We like a portrait best when it comes with a little abrasion. This one has it: loose paint, a sideways glance, and a warm brown background that has clearly been scrubbed on rather than tidied up. On the wall it does the job a mirror can’t it gives a room a face to sit with. The brown ground reads as warm and slightly worn, so it settles fast into rooms with old wood, leather and soft lamplight. Hang it in a living room alcove, a study, or on the wall beside a bed where you see it at close range. Pair it with warm painted walls, linen, stoneware and a bit of brass. Don’t crowd it with bright graphic prints or busy pattern the face needs quiet either side of it. As a canvas, the weave suits the thick paint marks and gives the whole thing a painted, off-the-easel feel.