Original artwork description:

With Happy Smile, Zakhar Shevchuk presents a heartfelt and emotionally expressive portrayal of childhood happiness. Rather than aiming for photographic realism, the artist weaves together color, texture, and light to create a sensorially rich, semi-abstract portrait. The child’s radiant expression emerges from a background of earthy, iridescent tones, and the composition as a whole feels imbued with emotional energy rather than rigid form.

What makes this portrait truly captivating is the way Shevchuk handles paint – soft impasto strokes form the contours of the face and hair, while the clothing is rendered in thick, sculptural layers of mauve and plum. The background recedes like a memory: hazy, ambient, and open to interpretation. This visual softness, combined with the child’s gentle smile, evokes a kind of nostalgic calm – an ode to happiness as both moment and memory.

Perfect for collectors who appreciate contemporary figurative work with emotional impact, this painting brings lightness and joy into any space, while also offering depth and sophistication in its execution.

Materials used:

Oil

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