Louis Joseph Fanelli Semah (French 1804-1875) Portrait of a Gentleman with a Top Hat, 1830, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, framed. Collection of Charles Phillips, Cleveland, OH.

Dimensions: 16.25 x 10.75 in. canvas size, 18.5 x 13 in. as framed.

Condition: 2 inch tear and associated loss in upper left, some retouch to jacket. Probably once a larger work, signature and date cut from another (now non-existent) portion of canvas and applied to top of canvas lower left.

Note: Fanelli Semah exhibited under the names Fanelli until 1834 then Semah and Fanelli-Semah and exhibited paintings at the Salons in Paris and in the provinces between 1831 and 1853. He produced portraits, history paintings and religious works, a category in which he was awarded third class gold medal in 1844 for his Christ in the Garden of Olives.