Louay Kayyali (Syrian, 1934-1978)

The present portrait Charles Tobler is psychologically compelling and equally captivating. While most of the young boys depicted by Kayyali appeared to be from the working class and often in a state of melancholia, the present portrait is evidently an elegant rendition of a noble child. The sitter, with his innocent angelic face, directly engages with the viewer; Kayyali subtly emphasises on the child's inner feelings of happiness and joy while he simultaneously alludes to his strict familial upbringing by depicting the boy holding a book. Yet the boy seems to be restless, as if desperate to go out to play.

The present work portrays more than just a child as it evokes the privileged lifestyle of foreign families living in Syria in the 1960s. The young boy thus becomes a metaphor for the New World and the American dream shared by thousands of Syrian civilians hoping to emigrate to the new continent, in search of a brighter future.