Anthony was my studio next door neighbor here at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. We sometimes painted together sharing a model in my studio. I asked him one day whether he would be willing to pose for me and he agreed. I also learned that he would be leaving us and returning to his native Nigeria. I wanted to paint this before that happened, so I'm so glad he was willing to give me his time for this painting which I completed just before he left us in October.  The backgroun