This is a colored oil portrait depicting a Cretan man in profile. The background is plain, painted in mottled shades of gray.  The area immediately around the man's face is much lighter and accentuated by muted shades of various lighter colors.  He is visible only from the chest up.  The man appears to be middle-aged with dark brown or black hair and eyes and weathered skin. He sports a beard which is medium length, salt and pepper in color, and neatly trimmed.  He is wearing a dark gray cap of some kind, a gray-green collared shirt with thin dark blue stripes, a dark blue vest and has a red bag slung over his right shoulder. The painting is set in a frame finished in varying shades of gold and copper.

Mary Betinis donated this painting of a Cretan man in memory of her husband, James, who was a native of Crete.

In 1916, a Chicagoan and Suburban fraternity for a Pancretan Association was founded, with only 50 members. As time went on, the association began to grow. When James Betinis was elected president, he expressed the wish for the establishment of a Cretan Federation for the whole of America. This idea was supported by many, and provoked the creation of more associations.

At a 1948 convention in Pittsburgh, the first Cretan Youth of America was organized. James Betinis was elected as treasurer.

James Betinis passed away in 1997.

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