Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, seated, in black jacket and black neck tie oil on canvas 89 x 69cm

121 x 99.5cm framed The painting is executed in oil on a canvas support which is unlined. The canvas tension is slack and there are minor undulations along the top and bottom edges. At the lower left corner is a tear to the canvas which has been patched from the reverse. Above this is a small puncture to the canvas with associated paint loss. The paint layer has a prominent network of age cracks and some wrinkling across the surface. The wrinkling is partly caused by the drying of the paint layers, but also by the canvas which appears to be a response to changes in humidity. In some areas the wrinkling has led to small losses in the paint layers. The varnish layer has slightly yellowed with age but is even and semi-glossy overall. There is a dirt layer which has been partly imbibed by the varnish, causing the age cracks in lighter areas to appear dark.