Mother and Child

Portrait of "Mother and Child"

In this composition, Nikos Sofialakis (1914-2001) presents a young mother with her infant child. The human forms, sculpted in high relief, emerge from a massive, single block of white Parian marble, projecting more than half of their natural circumference from the background, thus allowing for detailed views of the front and sides of the composition.

The concepts of motherhood and maternity were beloved themes in the works of Nikos Sofialakis, whose astounding realism in infant portraiture made him known as the "sculptor of infants". In this relief, the artist renders the mother in her ideal, youthful state as the eternal mother with the eternal infant - an enduring, and recurring, theme in human history. At the same time, the work is infused with an unmistakable sense of realism, for this mother, while timeless, is decidedly contemporary in her expression. Her look is serene but not devoid of emotion, and the faint lines around her eyes, which are deeply set under a slightly curved brow are all features that serve to emote, removing her from the realm of idealized maternity and placing her firmly in the modern realm as any mother figure in contemporary life.

Her full locks, pulled back in a decidedly contemporary coif, are modestly upturned and affixed to the crown of her head with clips, while the remaining hair is pulled back into thick braids that frame her neck on either side.

This particular hairstyle accentuates the contemporary sense of the work and conveys an air of modest beauty: the hair is swept back and is artfully held at bay to expose the woman’s fair features and even her attire, though barely perceptible, speaks to her modesty, which is further hinted at by the faint line of her blouse that encircles her long, feminine neck.

Sofialakis’ craftsmanship is evident in the form of the infant, whose plasticity makes visible the fleeting micro-expressions of a child’s face: wide eyes framed with just a hint of an eyebrow over each eye, supple, healthy cheeks that catch the light perfectly, and a full small mouth with lips that are seemingly upturned at the corners.

When viewing this work from the sides, in particular, one appreciates the depth of relief projection from the background as both, mother and child, seem to emerge from deep within the coarse block of marble that encloses them. The textural interplay between the rough, untreated surface of the stone and the softness of the sculpted forms, worked to a high polish, create a visual dichotomy that further accentuate the life-like quality of the mother and child, imbuing them with an air of vitality.

The medium itself lends the final stroke of realism to the work, as the Parian marble, famous in antiquity for its translucence, allows light to enter the stone at a greater visual depth, thus imitating the effect of light on human skin.

This work was presented for the first time in 1947 at the prestigious Grekisk Konst Exhibition (Exhibition of Greek Artists) which was organized by the Hellenic Republic in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Sweden. The Exhibition, which was staged with the help of Greeks and Philhellenes in Europe and around the world, toured the Scandinavian countries and showcased prominent and emerging Greek artists as a means of raising money for Greece following the devastation of World War II.