Irish artist Patrick Swift moved to London in 1950 and became associated with a group of writers and artists that included Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, George Barker and Patrick Kavanagh. While in London Swift founded ‘X magazine’ with the poet David Wright. In 1962 Swift left England for Portugal, where he founded the Porches Pottery. Although Swift produced a significant body of work, his distrust of publicity and dislike of exhibitions meant he was little known in Ireland during his lifetime.