 The album 's original cover art by Burton Silverman features a watercolour portrait of a long @-@ haired , bearded man in shabby clothes . The idea for the cover came from a photograph Anderson 's wife took of a homeless man on Thames Embankment , and Anderson later felt it would have been better to have used the photograph rather than commission the painting . Ian Anderson recalls posing for a photograph for the painting , though Silverman claims it was a self @-@ portrait . The artwork was commissioned and purchased by Chrysalis Records head Terry Ellis . Artist Silverman claims the art was only licensed for use as an album cover , and not for merchandising ; and approached the band seeking remuneration for its further use . Silverman and Anderson have different accounts of level of enmity involved in this . The original artwork for both the front and back covers are now privately owned by an unknown family , apparently having been stolen from a London hotel room . 
