Pierrot ready to fight
Artist
Adrien Tournachon
(French, 1825 - 1903)
Artist
Nadar [Gaspard Félix Tournachon]
(French, 1820 - 1910)
Date1854
MediumSalt print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 11 3/8 × 8 9/16 inches (28.89 × 21.75 cm)
Mount: 18 5/16 × 14 7/16 inches (46.51 × 36.67 cm)
Mount: 18 5/16 × 14 7/16 inches (46.51 × 36.67 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2017.61.38
Signednone
Inscribednone
MarkingsOn mount verso, lower left, in pencil: “22866”
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a mime with his fists raised in a fighting position; he’s in three-quarter profile, frowning with furrowed brow, and wearing a blousy top with puffy buttons up the center.Gallery LabelImmensely popular with Parisian audiences, mime Jean-Charles Deburau (1829–1873) performed as the stock character Pierrot with his signature billowing white costume, painted white face, and black skullcap. Here, Deburau embodies Pierrot’s clownish spirit through expressive and exaggerated gestures. Brightly lit as if performing on stage, he clenches his fists against a simple cloth backdrop that emphasizes his character rather than his surroundings. Taken during a short period of collaboration between brothers Gaspard Félix and Adrien Tournachon, this close-up photograph shows Pierrot ready to fight.
Serge Kakou, Paris France;
Purchased from him byThe Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2017;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.
Purchased from him byThe Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2017;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.
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