Georgios Jakobides

In this direct and touching portrait, a boy engages directly with the viewer, his head tilted, mouth parted and eyes relaxed. Jakobides has sensitively depicted the boy's individualised face, and closely observed his features.

After completing his training in Greece, Jakobides moved to Munich and studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. There he was influenced by the work of German artists Ludwig von Löfftz, Wilhelm Lindenschmidt and Gabriel von Max. According to Maria Katsanaki, 'During his residence in Munich, a period to which can be traced the influences of German Impressionism on his work specifically in regard to the rendering of light and colour, he showed particular interest in genre painting, scenes from childhood, as well as the depiction of figures in the countryside' (Marina Lambraki Plaka ed., Four Centuries of Greek Painting, Athens, 1999, p. 661).

Jakobides' observations of everyday life were also strongly influenced by the work of the Dutch Golden Age artist Frans Hals, reflected in the intimate yet comical subject matter as well as the sensitivity conveyed through the focused light and in each soft-edged brushstroke; as well as by Jakobides' introduction to the work of members of the French Realists and the Barbizon School including Courbet and Corot.

Jakobides is known to have painted this composition several times. Another version, smaller in size is in the collection of the National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens.