Grant drew and painted himself throughout his life, not from any sense of vanity (he was the least vain of men), but often from the want of a model (particularly in his early years) or from a need to change pace in between other works. The present self-portrait belongs to a considerable group drawn between about 1908 and 1911 and is the most attractive of them. Hats appear in many of his self-portraits (and a turban in two early paintings), often worn indoors to reduce any distracting top light. In later years a wide-brimmed straw hat became an almost essential ingredient of his day-to-day wear. This work was formerly in the collection of Sir Geoffrey Keynes, the surgeon and literary scholar who was the younger brother of Maynard Keynes. This text was written by Richard Shone for From Omega to Charleston: The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant 1910–1934 (2018, Piano Nobile Publications).