HENRY MAJOR - Portrait Painting

Our new GP pal Patrick sent me this note and wondered if perhaps this could be a self-portrait of Henry Major:

Hey Rick,

(This painting is) in an antique mall in Kansas City. The asking price is $600, which was more than I was willing to lay out without some serious thought and research. The price tag on the painting only lists "Painting by Major, A Man." Seeing as anyone could gather that from a ten second glance at the painting, I'm assuming the vendor has little idea what he or she actually has. $600 is a pretty high asking price without, though, so maybe they do. Who knows!

If you know anyone who would appreciate the painting, feel free to send them my way. If I don't end up buying it, I'd like to help get it to someone who would enjoy it.

Best,

Patrick

I asked our artist friend and semi-expert on Henry Major, Zach Trenholm about the possibility of this being a self-portrait. Zach's response:

To be honest though not completely sure it's a self-portrait. This looks like someone that could be older than Henry lived to be, which was 58 or 59....

As you know he did a great deal of this---using himself as a facial foundation of sorts but then deviating to depict various fictionalized folks of both genders & ages. The G.P.'s are of course an excellent example of this. He also did this with regards to his less commercial endeavors, i.e., his fine art portraits based on types rather than real people....

BUT I could very well be wrong (heck i wasn't around then :-) ) If it is a real self- portrait then it it was done VERY close to the end of his life, perhaps while he was sick. I have newspaper promo stuff (you have now as well) from around the last year of his life & his hair is not only neatly trimmed as usual, it's also still quite dark.....

Still---a real portrait painting by him. Definitely a find & at $600, not too expensive. Don't see many paintings by him other than the seascapes & such that he also did.

If you have a serious interest in this painting let me know and i'll hook you up with Patrick.