This portrait depicts the writer Leon Wieseltier (b.1952). Wieseltier is perhaps best known for the work 'Kaddish', an examination of the way Jewish tradition deals with death and mourning, and a book which has been translated into many languages. Wieseltier has also been the literary editor of the periodical 'The New Republic' since 1983. Like many of Arikha's other portraits, this painting has a neutral background, with the sitter looking into the distance. In his portraits, Arikha frequently depicted his male sitters clothed in a uniform of shirt and jacket, as he does here.