Gotlib studied at art schools in Cracow, Vienna and Munich. In Cornwall in 1939, the Jewish artist found himself unable to return to Poland when war broke out, and lived from then on in Britain. Gotlib wrote to Ruth Borchard: ‘I have found a self portrait painted between 1955–1956... it is a good work.’ His richly impastoed oil painting has roots in French painting, notably Gauguin, and in the Expressionism of Corinth but influences on his work always remain elusive. The self portrait shows a man of distinctive identity, but utterly immersed in nature. His posture is oddly asymmetric. His gait suggests he may be out walking vigorously. Background shapes suggest the form of a dense green tree. Vibrant reds, yellows, greens and blues may suggest contours and layers of hilly landscape.