In 1913 Roberts travelled to France and Italy where he came in to contact with modern art movements such as cubism and futurism. After a short association with Roger Fry's Omega Workshop, he joined the rival Vorticist Group led by Percy Wyndham Lewis. In 1916 he joined the Royal Field Artillery and was appointed an Official War Artist from 1917 to 1918.
His early work shows a personal cubistic style influenced by the mechanistic designs of the Vorticists, as typified by this drawing. He was to retain an interest in the human figure depicted in a stylised schematic manner throughout his career.
