Prior to the Anschluss (Nazi annexation of Austria), Secessionist Rudolf Hirschenhauser was a highly successful portraitist among the Viennese elite, specialising in pictures of women and children. Afterwards, following the confiscation of his home and art collection, including his own pictures, he fled to England. In 1940 he was interned for six months as a so-called 'enemy alien' in Hutchinson camp (the 'artists camp') on the Isle of Man, which he described as 'the most interesting six months of my life' (Bradford Observer, 26 April 1944). He sketched fellow internees, presented his work in camp exhibitions, and his experience continued to inspire his work after release, perhaps informing this eerie morning landscape.