In From Kitchen-Sink to Shangri-La (Lund Humphries, 2007) James Hyman writes about Greaves's jovial approach to the past:
Good News for Archaeologists (1966), Greece - The Museum of Eggs (1981) and Odalisque Disturbed (1983) exemplify the continual entwining of the thoughtful and the playful, illustrating a witty response to imagery which characterises much of Greaves's work even if it has a darker edge. This good humour is especially evident in Greaves's response to the past and, above all, to classical civilisation. A perfectly preserved jar is indeed good news for archaeologists, a museum of eggs pokes fun at the cult of preservation and the proliferation of museums, and the disturbed odalisque subverts the classical stability of any number of reclining nudes from classical times, through David and Ingres to Picasso and Matisse, and suggests the naughtier pleasures of a fun-fair side show. (p.149)
History
New Directions. Painting and Drawings by Michael Andrews, Peter de Francia, Derrick Greaves and Robert Medley, James Hyman Gallery, London, 3 February - 17 March 2006.