Great to see it finished...it's beautiful and RICH! Terrifically well-conceived and intriguing conceptually too.

Thanks for the inspiration--TE

Thank you so much, Tom! You say such nice things and I feel undeserving. Truthfully, parts of it were planned out, but the background was not all that well conceived when I first started. Sometimes I just can't come to a decision about certain parts of a painting until I see the rest emerging--then I know what it needs.

Update
 

Just wanted to let you know that this portrait will be on display at the Yale Art Gallery from Dec. 8 on through the re-opening celebrations and events. I'm not sure how long that will be--maybe a week, or maybe several weeks. So if you are in New Haven, please stop in if you can. The gallery, which was designed by my parents in 1951-55, has been completely restored, so it might be interesting to see the building, too.