Research for assignment one

After choosing my objects for the assignment I started researching how some of the objects were depicted by modern and contemporary artists, the most interesting being the Clown: reasons why artists chose to paint clowns.

Modern artists and clowns

Painters from Seurat to Matisse were drawn to the circus – the acrobats, tumblers and clowns, and at the most basic level the appeal came from the bright costumes that offered rich readymade subject matter full of dynamism and drama.

However there is also the myth of the sad clown who does everything to make people laugh and entertain the public while hiding a range of different emotions behind the mask. Travelling players on the margins of society, playing a part and concealing their sorrows.

Many artists identified with this character and saw themselves on the edge of society - trying to sell their work to a bourgeoisie that wasn’t interested, and like the clown – doing their best to entertain, but not always succeeding. In this way circus performers became an equivalent for artists, who treated them almost autobiographically – (Richard Thomson, professor of fine art at the University of Edinburgh).

Holly Farrell a professional Canadian painter did a series of portraits of clowns who sat for her and she explained why she painted clowns – “There is a duality in clowns that I find fascinating – there is the clown I painted, and there is the person, behind the paint. Their mask, their nose, their paint allows them to draw on parts of themselves that would typically be frowned upon in our society. The person and the clown do not live in perfect harmony – it seems they rely heavily on one another at times. Our response to the clown says so much about ourselves”. http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2014/02/12/holly-farrells-clowns/

References:

Gill Polonsky, 2014, Chagall, Phaidon

Danielle Kris, 2014, http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2014/02/12/holly-farrells-clowns/

Alastair Sooker, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170306-why-the-circus-fascinated-modern-artists