Georgios Jakobides

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 26 November 1985, lot 59
Private Collection, Athens

Panathinea Magazine, Georgios Jakobides, 3 June 1902, p. 172 
Olga Metzafou-Polyzou, Georgios Jakobides, Athens, 1999, pp. 116 & 342, no. 101, illustrated
Marina Lambraki-Plaka, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum Calendar 2006, Georgios Jakobides (1853-1932) The Painter of Childhood, Athens, 2005, illustrated  
Olga Metzafou-Polyzou, Jakobides Retrospective, Athens, 2005, pp. 186 & 304, no. 7, illustrated  
 

In the present work, a child dedicates himself industriously to the tasks and habits of adulthood, with a gently comic outcome. The boy is placed within the context of a more finished and well-rounded background than the customary neutral backdrop utilised by the artist, and the composition benefits from this multi-faceted narrative, taking on material qualities from the subject.  

Child with a Trumpet exhibits the painterly qualities to the line and immediacy to the execution exemplified by the oeuvre of Jakobides. The realism with which he depicts the child's clothing and the puddles on the floor is reflected in the hasty yet practiced brushstrokes. This feeling of intimacy and proximity balances Jakobides' academicism, adding an unpredictable quality to this work that is reflected in the subject matter and enhances the humorous slant of the piece.