"It amazes me that it’s been 23 years since I painted this study of a young Polish model, Jakub. He was 21 when I painted him; he and his equally young wife and baby were living in London, both young parents working as cleaners, and for less than a year he cleaned the large house I shared with two older gay men in Wimbledon. He was a friendly and regular model during that time: as soon as he knew I was an artist he asked to model and there are a large number of drawings and perhaps four or five paintings of him. His daughter must now be older than he was at this time, and I doubt he’s still the slender beauty he was then… still, ars longa, vita brevis!" Binnie, 2023
