"THE OLD BEGGAR" (1883) BY FRANK C. PENFOLD (AMERICAN, 1849-1921)
In oil on canvas, signed upper left "F.C. Penfold 1883"
Item # 012SBP08Q 

A raw look an elderly beggar sitting in an alley beneath layers of torn posters that decorate the building walls, he is completely focused through his thin spectacles as he pulls a needle with thread through the delicate fabric of his umbrella. This is held loosely against his leg and rests beside a few collected bottles of liquor lying against the bag at his feet. The rich palette and vibrant color blur the tragedy of the scene. Executed in oil on canvas, it is signed in the upper left corner in his typical script "F.C. Penfold" with the date of 1883 written into the wall beneath torn layers of posters.

In describing his work, Penfold acknowledged "Many of my friends at home wonder why I paint what they choose to call 'sad' subjects instead of something brighter and more cheerful. I can only say that I prefer to study pathetic sentiment because I know of no other mood which affords so fine an opportunity to depict character-phases of character most difficult to portray, expressions that shows not merely in the face, but in the hands, in the whole attitude. It is impossible to find this in a model-it must be felt."

The present work captures this sentiment perhaps as good as any of his works, the emphasis on the man's hands impossible to mistake. They are brilliantly illuminated against the darkness of his brown jacket, the gnarled knuckles twisted from years of difficulty and the single thumbnail unkempt and overgrown as he lightly grasps the delicate umbrella fabric.

The work is signed in his typical script upper left "F.C. Penfold" and is dated 1883 in the worn rock of the building exterior beside the signature.

Born in Lockport, New York in 1849, Frank C. Penfold would become Buffalo's most well-known artist of the early 20th centuy. An accomplished portrait painter, Penfold was also a skilled landscape and marine painter. From an early age Penfold, born to a family of artists, showed great promise and trained extensively under his father William Penfold. His first exhibit was in 1875 and the same year he exhibited at Mutter & Hoddick Art Gallery. A few years later he traveled to France and eventually settled in Point Aven, Brittany. In 1884 he studied at the Académie Julien in Paris and started exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1882, receiving honorable mention in 1889 for his painting Stormy Weather, North Sea.

Penfold maintained dual residences with homes in both Pont Aven, France and Buffalo, New York. He spent a great deal of time in Buffalo, teaching classes at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1891 and was a long-time member of the Buffalo Society of Artists where he served as president of the association in 1891.

He exhibited extensively, including the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 in Buffalo where he was awarded with honorable mention. In 1904 he exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis World's Fair, St. Louis, Missouri and had solo exhibitions at Buffalo's Albright Gallery in 1907 and 1915. He exhibited one painting in London at the British Institute and exhibited at least two other paintings at various exhibitions in London.

His wife, Jennifer Wells, died at the age of 71 and in his grief he drowned himself at Concarneau, Brittany, France. He was posthumously honored with a retrospective in 1922 at the Albright Gallery.

Artist Listings & Bibliography:

• E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. X, Gründ, 2006, p. 1124
  
• Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Opitz, 1983, p. 728
• A Dictionary of Artists 1760-1893 Who Have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions, Graves, 1973, p. 215

Measurements: 21" H x 15 1/2" W [canvas]; 27 5/8" H x 22 3/8" W [frame]

Condition Report:
Relined. Light surface craquelure throughout. Minor specks of inpainting upper half; lower right corner a bit difficult to read, perhaps with overpainting present in the cobblestone road around beggar's feet. 20th century frame in good condition with minor chipping and giltwood losses, tiny holes where a nameplate used to be lower edge.