The painting presents a commanding figure of a ship captain, dressed in a green coat with a red vest and adorned with a feathered hat, symbolizing his authority and experience at sea. The captain’s face represents the universal nature of seafaring leadership or the anonymity of the many captains who have braved the oceans. The dark backdrop sets a dramatic stage, focusing the viewer’s attention solely on the captain, the central figure of this maritime narrative.
Signed Oil Painting on Canvas – Unstretched
Artist David Pelbam was born in Rhode Island in 1932 and died in 2004. His creativity was inspired by the shipyard where his father worked, and he often used dockworkers and ship captains as his subjects. David Pelbam's paintings were primarily done in oil paint on canvas, and the majority of them were portraits with intense, soulful features.
Rabbis were another of artist David Pelbam's favorite subjects, and he paid special attention to the expressions and ages of his subjects; he carefully detailed older faces with crows feet and forehead wrinkles, bringing life to the paintings. The most realistic aspect of David Pelbam's artwork are the eyes on his portraits, as they appear to stare directly back into the viewers' eyes. He only painted between 1965 and 1975.