The Little Pedogogue (Self-Portrait as Teacher) (1985) serves as a surrogate self portrait in its expression of the artist's anxieties. Given such a reading and the rarity of such autobiographical elements elsewhere in Greaves's work, it is hard not to consider this painting as a foil to Self Portrait of the Artist as Madman (King Kong).
A self portrait of the artist as a teacher, all that is discernible is the artist's hand and pointing fingers against the ironic certitude of triangles and primary colours. But instead of a loss of equilibrium or fall from grace, there is a sense of control, of composure and authority.
History
Loughborough and tour, Loughborough College of Art and Design, Forty from Ten, 1986
Literature
Loughborough College of Art and Design, Forty from Ten, 1986, p.24 (illustrated)
James Hyman Derrick Greaves:From Kitchen Sink to Shangri-La, Lund Humphries, London 2007, illustrated p.135.