A NEW portrait of William Wordsworth is the centrepiece of a fresh exhibition staged at the poet's former home at Rydal Mount.

The remarkable work is one of a series of works by Japanese artist Hideyuki Sobue on the theme of “I wandered,” to mark the 200th anniversary of William Wordsworth’s Daffodils, arguably the world’s most famous poem.

Hideyuki based the new portrait on the life mask of Wordsworth, also created in 1815, the year that Daffodils was published. It forms a diptych - two separate paintings - the other a sea of daffodils stretching into the distance.

The mask was from the archives of London's National Portrait Gallery, and depicts the poet as he would have looked 200 years ago, aged 45.

Hideyuki was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and moved to the Lake District in 2005. He studied fine art at the Osaka University of Arts and has exhibited in galleries Japan and across the UK.

He was elected as a member of the Lake Artists Society in 2008. His work has been shown at a number of major exhibitions in London and throughout the UK.

One of the most gifted artists working in the region he has developed a truly distinctive style and has a studio at The Factory, at Castle Mills, Kendal. Over the past decade he has developed his original new brush hatching technique, using Japanese sumi ink and acrylic, which was inspired by the concept of disegno established in the Florentine Renaissance, combined with the ongoing study of neurology on a variety of themes.

He is a great admirer of Wordsworth.

"I wanted to delve into his life not only as a poet but also as a keen gardener and walker, a lover of nature, a conservationist and a solitary thinker," explained Hideyuki.

He added: "I hope visitors enjoy this creative process, and get a hint into how I worked to develop the idea of portraying the giant of English Romantic poetry, with his multifaceted personality, life and legacy."

The new exhibition at Rydal Mount runs for three months.

It was launched at a private viewing where poet Gary Boswell read a selection of his own work written in tribute to Wordsworth.

Hideyuki and Gary worked together on a collaborative project at Rydal Mount ten years ago, in an attempt “to trace back to the poet’s spirituality and creativity from the perspective of our contemporary society.”

Award-winning poet, journalist, teacher and writer Gary was poet in residence for the 2010 World Cup. He said that after a long break with “writers’ block” he started composing poetry again after visiting Rydal Mount and especially the gardens.

The Wordsworth family hopes that the anniversary will rekindle interest in what they describe as “this wonderful poem.”

The poet’s great, great, great, great grandson Christopher Wordsworth said the poem had "deceptively simple language which delivers a profound message.”

He added: “The role played by Wordsworth in the conservation of the Lake District and the promotion of its culture cannot be underestimated. Wordsworth resisted the move towards modernisation in England and created masterpieces based on his profound spiritual sense of the beauty of the Lakes.

“This project takes a contemporary view of the significance of the Lake District and its natural and cultural heritage both to those who live and work in Cumbria and those who visit from around the world."