Kiyoshi, Tokio

"Kiyoshi, Tôkio" (1939) depicts a Japanese boy named Kiyoshi in Tokyo — a child portrait that brings unusual tenderness to Jacoulet's portraiture. His child subjects, whether Japanese, Korean, Pacific Islander, or Mongolian, carry a particular directness: children face the artist without the social performance of adult subjects, and Jacoulet rendered their unguarded quality with obvious affection. The Tokyo child, named and located, suggests a specific encounter rather than a representative type.