In this remarkable work, the painter has chosen to express his inner turmoil in the post-impressionist style of Vincent Van Gogh. Artists are notorious for the ill treatment of their models; this is an astonishing example of the posed figure in a state of forced and agonized nonchalance.

According to current relational aesthetic theory, the artist draws the viewer to empathize with the character through the wrenching portrayal of the mustachioed figure against a grimy teal/mustard background. Our attention is drawn from the right shoulder, from which the model appears to have been caught on the back of his lopsided chair. The awkward position certainly must exacerbate the agony the subject must be experiencing on account of his painful arthritis, and dislocated left wrist. However, with impressive stoicism, the subject indicates a display of ease in the casual lilt of his cigarette, and the effeminate crossing of his legs. His anguish is betrayed only by the strained pallor of his skin, faithfully captured by the artist's consummate skill as a colorist.

The figure's china-blue eyes, opened asymmetrically wide in an impassive mask of terror, reveal a rare glimpse of the artist's soul, and are truly a testament to prodigious talent in tackling human form and raw emotion.