William Roberts, R.A.

London, The London Artist's Association, no. 41, where bought by Sir David Scott in November 1931 for 18 guineas

STRUCTURE Original canvas in good stable condition. PAINT SURFACE There are a few very tiny abrasions to the paint surface in the lower right corner but otherwise the paint surface is in good overall condition. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals no sign of retouching. FRAME Held under glass in a simple wooden rectilinear frame.
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'This is a very solid composition. All the modelling is firm and definite. There is no vagueness or weakness anywhere. The boy is obviously a boy of character, who knows his own mind and will go far.' Sir David Scott

This portrait is of the artist's son John David who had been born on 6 June 1919. Roberts painted John on several occasions, such as the portrait of 1927 when he was aged eight (Cyfartha Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Merthyr Tydfil). The present painting appears to be a little later than the picture at Merthyr Tydfil and is consistent with a date of around 1930 when John was around eleven years of age. John is dressed in his school uniform with his overcoat buttoned and wearing a red cap and striped tie.

In 1940 John Roberts graduated from University College, London with a first class degree in physics and became a government researcher after the outbreak of war. He worked upon new advances in radar techniques but his heart was never quite devoted to his research. He managed to leave the Ministry of Supply and after a few months working for the Forestry Commission in Wales, he became a ship's cook in the Merchant Navy. He had suffered from back pain as a child and was invalided from the navy in 1942 and he returned to live with his parents in Oxford. He was devoted to both parents, as they were to him, and unfortunately his girl-friends never met with wholehearted parental approval. In Oxford, John worked firstly in a book shop, until the strict opening hours became too much for him and he became a milkman. Working on the horse-drawn milk floats gave him the time he craved for research in the local library and indulging in his real passion, writing. He remained loyal to his father's reputation, and when he visited Sir David and Lady Scott with his mother Sarah Roberts in August 1984 (Fig 1), he happily discussed his father's work and his own modelling for The Schoolboy. John Roberts died in 1995.