Description
This drawing, by caricaturist Paul Gavarni, presents a character from pantomime and festival culture. Called Pierrot, he is recognizable by his comically ill-fitting clothes and was popular in performances during Gavarni's lifetime. The artist drew Pierrot several times late in his career, often adding humorous captions, which likely related to his work in printmaking and illustration.
Provenance
(Keppel & Co., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) (?-1923); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1923-)
Accession Number
1923.854
Medium
watercolor heightened with white gouache on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 31.8 x 21 cm (12 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Tags
Drawing Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Watercolor Gouache Paper French
Background & Context
Background Story
Paul Gavarni (1804-1866) was a French artist known for the precisely observed, satirical drawings and watercolors of Parisian life that make him one of the most important artists of the French satirical tradition. Pierrot from c. 1850-60 depicts the famous commedia dell'arte character Pierrot in the precisely observed, satirical manner that distinguishes Gavarni's best work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. Pierrot—the melancholic clown of the commedia dell'arte—was one of the most popular subjects in French art of the 19th century, and Gavarni's precisely observed, satirical treatment shows his talent for combining popular subjects with precise observation and wit.
Cultural Impact
Pierrot is important in the history of French art because it demonstrates the precisely observed, satirical manner that Gavarni brought to popular subjects as one of the most important artists of the French satirical tradition. Gavarni's precisely observed, satirical works—combining popular subjects with the precise observation and wit that are his most distinctive contributions—represent one of the most important traditions in French art, and the c. 1850-60 painting shows this tradition at its most precisely observed and satirical.
Why It Matters
Pierrot is Gavarni's precisely observed satirical work: the famous commedia dell'arte character rendered in the satirical manner of one of the most important artists of the French satirical tradition. The c. 1850-60 painting shows the combination of popular subjects with precise observation and wit that makes Gavarni one of the most important French satirical artists.
