Joseph Lanthemann, in 1976, suggested that The Young Peasant was created in Nice, based on the fact that it shows the same room as other works by Modigliani depicting Jeanne Hébuterne, who are believed to have painted there.

It seems to have been created, in any case, during his stay in the south of France, and can be considered a testimony of the Cézanne inspired period that the artist was going through.

[4] The artist inscribed the title of the work on the lower right of the canvas, identifying the man seated on the chair as the 'peasant boy'.

Modigliani had been very influenced by Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne, and it seems likely that the current painting was inspired by a Cézanne's series of paintings depicting workers in the fields, predominantly in blue tones.

In the portrait, the faint chromaticism of the face of the sitter, despite its delicacy in the tonal variations, manages to prevail and then be suppressed by the force of the background, an effect deliberately studied for the creation of harmony.