Untitled (Clown Playing Double Bass) by Samuel Brecher
Untitled (Clown Playing Double Bass)
Samuel Brecher
Title
Untitled (Clown Playing Double Bass)
Artist
Samuel Brecher
1897 - 1982 (biography)Year
1955
Technique
ink and pastel drawing
Image Size
7 1/2 x 4-1/2"
Signature
signed in ink, lower right
Edition Size
1 of 1 unique
Annotations
ink dated below signature
Reference
Paper
fibrous tan laid
State
Publisher
Inventory ID
14079
Price
$500.00
Description
Samuel Becher's untitled image of a seated clown playing a double bass (or perhaps plucking a cello) is unique in its wholly objective depiction. He does away with the saccharine, sentimental caricatures of earlier decades and avoids the dark overtones of the shabby jesters of the Depression so favored by many Ashcan-school artists. Simple, expressionist, and intimate, this image is a quiet ode to the entertainer.
Samuel Brecher was known for his images of circus performers and was included in a show of clown paintings alongside Picasso, Walt Kuhn, Toulouse-Lautrec, Georges Rouault, and others in 1942 in San Francisco.