Born in Poland in 1895, Jankel Adler, settled in England following the upheaval of the Second World War. His early career developed in Germany amongst leading avant-garde artists of the time; at the Dusseldorf Art Academy Paul Klee was a particular influence. His work was targeted by the Nazis and included in the Degenerate Art Exhibition, leading him to exile in Paris in 1933. He befriended Picasso whose influence can be seen in such works as 'Portrait of Two Women'.

He joined the Polish Army during the War and was evacuated to Glasgow in 1940. He was discharged for health reasons but remained in the city and involved himself in the art scene, joining the Glasgow New Art Club alongside Josef Herman, a fellow exiled Polish artist. Venus of Kirkcudbright painted in 1943 (private collection, sold Christie's, London, 24 June 2015, lot 387) is one of the standout works from this period. The figure's face is echoed in the present example, and is a distinctive feature of Adler's figurative work. In 1943, he moved to London with Herman and an influential figure to a younger generation of British artists looking to the European avant-garde, including the likes of Robert Colquhoun and MacBryde, Keith Vaughan, John Minton and Prunella Clough. His studio in Bedford Gardens became a regular meeting place for artists and writers, including Sydney Graham, Dylan Thomas, and the young Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon. Adler later settled in Aldbourne, Wiltshire through the support of a patron, Jimmy Bomford. He died there at the age of 53 in 1949. None of Adler's siblings survived the Holocaust.