Born in New York in 1930, Willy Aractingi was raised in Egypt and Lebanon. In the ‘40s, at around 12 years old, the artist started painting, only to be interrupted by the course of life. He then picked up the brush again in the ‘70s, and by the ‘80s, he was a full-time artist. He worked on a series in which he illustrated the 244 fables of the French Poet Jean de La Fontaine. He also depicted Arab folkloric tales such as “Antar and Abla”, as well as biblical stories. At times, he strayed from the fable to paint still-lifes, landscapes and portraits of animals. Always working with primitive shapes and bright colors and never having received any formal training, Aractingi is qualified as a naive artist.

Aractingi has had solo and collective exhibitions in Beirut, Paris, London, New York, Nice and Antibes. His works are housed in public as well as private collections such as the Sursock Museum collection in Beirut, the Mokbel Art Collection and the Jean de la Fontaine Museum in Château-Thierry, France. 

This work is part of the last spree of paintings produced by Aractingi before his death. It depicts a plump figure climbing towards two pyramids in a conquering, victorious stance. Most elements in the piece have been painted in pairs: the pyramids, the palm trees, two red peaks resembling obelisks, and even the sphere making up the body of the boy which mirrors the sun above. Aractingi’s humor peeks through this playful, whimsical scene, sometimes bordering on a fun eroticism while staying childish and sweet.