Full length standing portrait, the subject is facing three quarters to the viewer's left, wearing Chancellor's robes. He stands to the right of a column upon a light beige background with a blue tinge.

Anthony Eden, the first Earl of Avon, was a Conservative MP, becoming a Cabinet Minister in 1936. During the Second World War he was the Foreign Secretary. In December 1933 he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal and later succeeded Sir Winston Churchill as Prime Minister in 1955.He resigned during the Suez crisis of 1956 due to a combination of pressure from his Ministers and poor health. He was Chancellor of the University of Birmingham from 1945 to 1973.
The artist, Derek Hill, was an English portrait and landscape painter. Although born in Hampshire, throughout his life he had a long standing association with Ireland and on his death he left his house in Donegal to the Irish State. This portrait was commissioned by the University of Birmingham in 1974.