Around 2011 artist Zsuzsi Roboz embarked on a series of portraits of writers including Anita Brookner, Will Self, Seamus Heaney, Colm Tóibín, Harold Pinter, Andrew O'Hagan and Josephine Hart. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Roboz observed, 'In the past, my portrait projects have focused on characters from the arts: dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. Writers, however, posed an entirely new set of challenges: those who are accustomed to scrutinising others here became the subject of scrutiny. [...] The 'face to face' project was, in a sense, a series of duels between myself and the sitter, and also an occasion to witness the observer observed' (Guardian, 25 October 2011). An exhibition of these portraits with a catalogue text by John Russell Taylor, himself a sitter in one of the portraits, was held at Messums in 2011.

Roboz's portrait of Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie, while not part of this series, displays similar traits. A full face portrait with direct gaze, it captures a character full of intelligence, shrewdness and sagacity, as well as an instantly recognisable likeness.