At the beginning of her career, at the close of the Second World War, Betty Goodwin was especially concerned with art’s purpose. Like many other artists of her generation, she saw painting as a political and social act that could reconnect the individual to a greater collective purpose. Thus, in the early 1950s, she worked in the Social Realist tradition, depicting the continued struggle of the working class and wartime immigrants.

This work, dating from 1948, is an early demonstration of Goodwin’s concern with the social ills of her time and life made uncertain by the devastation of the war. A man is represented performing literal back-bending work over what looks like a boiler. His face is dramatically lit from below, revealing his furrowed brow and perhaps his fatigue. The vibrant colour palette and expressive approach also add to the drama of this fascinating early work by Goodwin.