This is a painting of my dad's father, Carmine Cefalo, known to me as "Grandpop". It hung on the wall at my grandparents' house from the 40's until very recently, and my uncle now owns it. I was fascinated by the portrait growing up, and it was an inspiration to me as a young kid who dreamed of becoming an artist. I always wondered if I could some day paint something like it.
All anyone knows about it is that it was painted in Italy during World War II, and that my he payed for it with a carton of cigarettes. Nobody can make much sense of the signature past the first few letters. It's pretty well painted anyway, and it's great to have a small treasure like this as part of our family history.
The orange light and aloof gaze away from the viewer are interesting to me. It's fun for me to imagine my grandfather as a young wisecracking tough guy in the Navy. The eyebrows are great too.
