'Friend had met Aberdeen Goodwin shortly after his arrival in Florence in early June 1949. He and Peter Kaiser had been searching for suitable rooms in which to stay and were eventually led to the studio owned by the young negro. There they were able to live and work for a period. Aberdeen became a reliable friend, and kept in touch with the artist during the period of his return to Australia. When Friend went back to Italy for his second visit in February 1952 he met Aberdeen again, and the artist stayed in his room in Florence, a small cramped space above a house roof, the old studio having been let.'¹

1. Pearce, B., Donald Friend, 1915-1989: Retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1990, p. 75