He reminds me of a faun, playing his flute to seduce a timid damsel... in fact there was an older painting that came to mind, and I had to look it up in google: it's Merse's Faun & Nymph:
But instead of a romantic forest, we have a forlorn back lane in some seedy part of the town. Maybe with his art, with the tune of his flute, the artist is trying to open new routes to escape the hardships -- a stairway out of the painful reality!
Arik Brauer is a multi-talent, not just a painter. He plays several instruments, sings and was a dancer, sometimes with his sister Lena Brauer( link from my VAG website).
The seedy back lane is from a photo I took in Lethbridge, Canada. Other parts are details from a front street facade, same place, and some details from a Rudolf Hausner lithograph. The other part is a detail I call "Behind the 8-Ball", influenced by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt