© Josef Herman estate

The peasant was an enduring motif for Herman, observed on his wide travels abroad in countries including France, Spain and Mexico. In his autobiography, 'Related Twilights: Notes from an artist's diary', the artist explained the appeal of this avowed preference: 'the peasant is a type, but also an individual. From their very postures once can sense a world of silent expression. But more important than their shapes or their faces, their whole bodies express a kind of transcendental declaration of human independence'.

This watercolour was donated by Dr. Henry Roland, one of the three eponymous gallerists of Roland, Browse and Delbanco, established in London’s Cork Street by Henry Roland (né Heinz Rosenbaum) and Gustav Delbanco, both refugees of German-Jewish origin, together with Lilian Browse, in 1945. Herman had his first solo show there in 1946 and went on to exhibit with them for almost 30 years. They also exhibited a number of émigré artists postwar including Jankel Adler, Alfred Cohen, Heinz Inlander and Katerina Wilczynski.