Portrait of a Boy 1926

Editor: Here we have Jessie Willcox Smith's "Portrait of a Boy" from 1926, done in oil paint, a really compelling figurative piece. There’s a nostalgic quality, perhaps a touch melancholy, that hangs in the air as I look at this boy holding a small paper boat. What story do you see in his gaze? Curator: His gaze… it's a crossroads, isn't it? That tender vulnerability juxtaposed with an implied strength – children possess this naturally. He is holding a small paper boat; for me it is reminiscent of halcyon days of youth, perhaps with the melancholy edge of the oncoming inevitability of change and experience, as well as the excitement of imagination and of venturing into uncharted waters. Editor: Uncharted waters indeed! So the sea acts as this broader metaphor? Curator: Absolutely! Smith was a master of capturing childhood, but rarely without that whisper of adult awareness. Do you notice the colours, the way they soften and blur? It lends a dreamlike quality, doesn't it? Like a half-remembered summer afternoon. She brings to mind John Waterhouse in his handling of romantic composition, but with something extra. A poignancy, that resonates, it lingers doesn’t it? What is your impression? Editor: It does, almost hauntingly. It’s made me think about how idealized childhood can be, overlooking the more complex emotions, though this feels as though Smith allows for this. Curator: Yes, allowing both to coexist! It's a subtle balance. Her focus wasn’t only sweetness or light, like so many other children's illustrators of the era. Perhaps that’s what makes her work resonate even now. Editor: It’s been great looking closely together and reflecting on this artwork. I feel as though it gave me a new perspective. Curator: Me too. It's a joy when art invites a journey, doesn’t it?