Bidspirit auction | F. Maple Oil on Canvas

F. Maple Oil on Canvas Portrait of a Bearded Man Smoking a Pipe - This late 20th-century oil on canvas portrait depicts a bearded gentleman in three-quarter profile. The subject is portrayed with wide, expressive eyes, wearing a dark-coloured beret and a matching coat accented by a vibrant red neckerchief. He is shown smoking a dark wood pipe. The artist has employed a warm palette for the flesh tones with prominent highlights on the nose and forehead, set against a muted greenish-grey background. The brushwork is deliberate, particularly in the rendering of the coarse hair of the beard and the textured fabric of the clothing. The painting is signed F.MAPLE. in white block lettering in the lower right corner. The work is presented in a deep, ornate gilt-composition frame featuring scrolling foliate motifs and a gadrooned inner edge. No other maker marks or labels are visible on the front of the piece.