... As The Day He Was Born

A fully authenticated photograph of Professor Thrupiece in the late 1950s when he would have been 18 or 19. At the time he frequently sported a pipe which he later abandoned in favour of a pair of RayBans. The image suggests that he was, perhaps, about to embark on a round of golf. Nothing could be further from the truth. Golf is one of the few sports he has not, hitherto, been accused of mastering.

Anyone with even a passing interest in Professor Thrupiece - and we venture to suggest that were you amongst the small minority of the population without such interest you would not be visiting this recherché worldwide inter web site let alone reading this particular piece - knows that he has been the subject of numerous portraits depicting him in all manner of guises. Indeed a recent article [The Waiting Game - see HERE] set out in some detail the better known portraits and their settings, whilst questioning the authenticity of one in particular: the recently re-discovered Homme académique du Dorset by well-known Dorset Neo-impressionist Cézanne Francksdiarée.

Bearing this in mind - and sounding as we do the appropriate note of caution [the value of a genuine Thrupiece is such as to tempt even the most reformed forger out of retirement] - we reluctantly bring to public attention a startling new discovery which appears to find the Professor in particularly relaxed mood - "au naturelle" as it were, in the buff, starkers, indeed bollock-naked.

Art historian and singing nun, Sister Annunciata Convent-Garden*, who has taken a particular interest in male life-drawings, believes the portrait to be not only "honest and sincere" but also "astonishingly insightful and psychologically revealing". "There is", she says, "something uniquely winning and satisfyingly balanced about the penetrating facial stare on the one hand [wisdom and puzzlement simultaneously distilled as it were] and the depiction of an unflatteringly-aged torso on the other - something less penetrating than which it would be hard to imagine. The treatment of the penis - a particular interest of mine - is truly innovative ".

* distant relative of Lord Garden

It is hardly surprising then that the portrait - entitled only Man at Rest ["an ironic even mischievous idea in itself given the keenly restless intellect on view"] - should be by someone well-able to observe the Threadbone [and by extension the Thrupiece] circle so closely. The portrait is signed in the bottom right-hand corner by ex-Spanish boy-scout, one-time amanuensis/nut-tightener to the late Mr Threadbone and currently personal companion to Mrs Amanda J Threadbone, Enriqué de los Chicos Perdidos. "An artist of some stature - about 5' 9" in fact", says Sister Annunciata.

In the latest Sotherbone's Catalogue, Still Life and Naked Male Portraits specialist Keenon Todger, writes

Is this a portrait of Professor Thrupiece or of someone who just looks like him?

Enriqué de los Chicos Perdidos

Man at Rest [2011] Watercolour 18" x 18" ​ Though the sitter is unidentified, facial recognition techniques supported by extensive archival research as well as non-continuous written provenance strongly support the idea that the portrait is of Professor Thrupiece.  The circumstances of its creation are unknown though it is likely that it was undertaken during one of the Professor's visits to Mrs Amanda J Threadbone's home - quite probably shortly before or shortly after he had taken a bath. Either that or he was about to eat pasta.

Enriqué is known to have "captured" several members of the Threadbone Circle between c2004 and c2018.  This is a particularly fine and treasurable portrait of one of the circle's most influential members seen in an unusual light. The artist generally used oils; watercolours are more rare. The canvas is in good condition, the frame gilt and the subject is well-hung. ​ GUIDE PRICE: £165,000