Sykes studied art at Rutherford College in Newcastle before attending the Royal College of Art in London. There, he studied every branch of arts and crafts, but specialised in sculpture. His early patron was Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, who in 1911 commissioned him to design the famous Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls-Royce. Many designs for fountains, trophies, medals and memorials followed. After the First World War, he worked as a commercial illustrator under the pseudonym ‘Rilette’, designing covers for Woman magazine, advertisements for De Reszke cigarettes, Ensign Cameras, Electrolux goods, Evan Williams shampoo and railway posters for the LNER.

When he was 65, the Second World War broke out and he left London for Drayton, near Abingdon, where he devoted himself to painting. It was here that he painted this picture. In 1951, the year after the artist’s death, a memorial exhibition of his work, including over one hundred bronzes, drawings, watercolours, pastels and oil paintings, was held at the Walker Galleries in London. The Bradford Observer noted that ‘His paintings are tender atmospheric things.’