Sickert first came to Bath during the First World War, when he was forced to give up his normal practice of painting abroad. He loved Bath’s Georgian architecture, slightly seedy and soiled by that date, and the way the buildings and streets appeared to stretch effortlessly into the surrounding hills. His affection for Bath brought him back there for his final years. He is buried in Bathampton churchyard. Based on a photograph, probably taken by his third wife, Thérèse Lessore, this view is an excellent example of Sickert’s late work. The grid lines used to transfer the image to canvas are faintly visible; he is known to have been attracted by their abstract properties.