Harry Endersohn,
1850
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1850
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Harry Endersohn, is a 1850 by Unknown, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This print shows a clown dressed as a ballerina. The clown is wearing a tutu and a funny hat. He's making a silly pose, which is the opposite of what ballerinas do. This was a common joke back then, poking fun at serious dancers. To learn more about how artists used contrast to create depth, look at the technique: chiaroscuro.
In a room with Moorish-inspired elements, a pantomime clown performs a dance, leaping with his right leg extended downward and his left leg raised behind; his arms are outstretched, with the left crossing his body and the right raised from the shoulder, while his head turns to the right. His white face paint features geometric shapes, including dots on the forehead and chin, triangular eyebrows, horizontal 'y' shapes beneath each eye, and exaggerated lips, paired with a wig consisting of a central tuft and side tufts. He wears a parody of a 19th-century ballerina’s costume, including a…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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