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拍品專文
The characters of the commedia dell'arte, which were ubiquitous in twentieth century French culture, remained Rouault’s most frequent subjects over the course of his career. In this intimate portrait of Pierrot, the artist challenges ideas of the clown as a common performer and instead underlines the figure’s higher philosophical purpose: the noble clown aims to distract his audience from the absurdity of the human condition through the art of comedy. As the poet André Suarès wrote to Rouault in 1917, “the clown […] is a leader, the very opposite of a victim. The clown is wisdom or its parody, folly; full of a sometimes terrible irony, full of eternal laughter. And the clown of clowns, of course, is the death’s head” (quoted in P. Courthion, Georges Rouault, New York, 1961, p. 198).
Painted in 1939, this mature work employs visual elements proper to the genre of portraiture and religious painting to convey Pierrot’s dual role as spiritual guide. With his eyes veiled, the lone pantomime tilts his head in inward contemplation, with us as his sole spectators. Framed in the center of the composition, the bust of the sitter is artfully delineated by a painted black and chalky green border that distances him from the earthly reality of the viewer. Moreover, the richly encrusted surface in Pierrot is characteristic of Rouault's lyrical aesthetic and conveys both spiritual gravitas and the magnitude of mortal existence. Rouault’s subtle handling of line and light evokes the effects of stained glass, which the artist studied for five years as a young apprentice, and which amplifies the work’s religious dimension. Thick black contour lines offset the figure’s form from the luminous color quadrants they circumscribe, as seen in the ethereal orange glow that emanates from behind Pierrot’s mouth and eyes. Broad brushstrokes of blue and white paint crown the figure’s head in a halo that echoes the curvature of his ruffled collar and visually reinforces the clown’s paradoxical role as spiritual icon. Just like the multifaceted nature of the clown himself, this complex work marries lyrical aesthetic and imagery with the solemnity of the human condition on the eve of World War II.
Painted in 1939, this mature work employs visual elements proper to the genre of portraiture and religious painting to convey Pierrot’s dual role as spiritual guide. With his eyes veiled, the lone pantomime tilts his head in inward contemplation, with us as his sole spectators. Framed in the center of the composition, the bust of the sitter is artfully delineated by a painted black and chalky green border that distances him from the earthly reality of the viewer. Moreover, the richly encrusted surface in Pierrot is characteristic of Rouault's lyrical aesthetic and conveys both spiritual gravitas and the magnitude of mortal existence. Rouault’s subtle handling of line and light evokes the effects of stained glass, which the artist studied for five years as a young apprentice, and which amplifies the work’s religious dimension. Thick black contour lines offset the figure’s form from the luminous color quadrants they circumscribe, as seen in the ethereal orange glow that emanates from behind Pierrot’s mouth and eyes. Broad brushstrokes of blue and white paint crown the figure’s head in a halo that echoes the curvature of his ruffled collar and visually reinforces the clown’s paradoxical role as spiritual icon. Just like the multifaceted nature of the clown himself, this complex work marries lyrical aesthetic and imagery with the solemnity of the human condition on the eve of World War II.