A pale-skinned man leans forward so his arms rest on the desk in front of us as he looks out with piercing blue eyes in this horizontal portrait painting. He rests his head in his left hand, to our right, with the first two fingers extended along his temple. His blond hair is carefully combed, and he has arched eyebrows, bags under his eyes, a wide nose, and a bristle mustache over his square, cleft chin. He wears a navy-blue suit jacket over a white button-down and dark tie. The jacket has a white pocket square and a red flower on one lapel. The man wears a red pinky ring on the hand by his face. The other arm is extended so that hand, which holds a cigarette, hangs beyond the edge of the tabletop. We look slightly down onto the desk where a pair of glasses rests on an open book, which shows a self portrait by Van Gogh. A pamphlet partially tucked under one corner of the book would read, in full, “FRENCH PAINTING from the CHESTER DALE COLLECTION.” The man sits in a high-backed chair with cushion mottled with amethyst purple and topaz blue. Close behind him, a shelf to our right holds a copper-green mask and a figurine. Pale green paneling and drawers fill the left two-thirds of the background. The painting is inscribed at the top left, “To my very dear friend Chester Dale Diego Rivera. August 1945.” Brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the background and chair.