1913 (ca.), Georges Rouault, Acrobate (Acrobat) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: This monumental, almost sculptural silhouette is seemingly restrained by the limits of the painting.
For Georges Rouault, the figure of the performer possessed a sacred element while being associated with moral misery at the same time. These figures take on multiple roles, like this nude with his head lowered, who evokes the athletic figure of a wrestler, an acrobat or the Christian figure of the sinner. The cloisonnist delineation of the forms with their thick black contours and the glowing blue background reveal the influence of the art of stained glass, which the artist studied at the beginning of his career.
1913 (ca.), Georges Rouault, Acrobate (Acrobat) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: This monumental, almost sculptural silhouette is seemingly restrained by the limits of the painting.
For Georges Rouault, the figure of the performer possessed a sacred element while being associated with moral misery at the same time. These figures take on multiple roles, like this nude with his head lowered, who evokes the athletic figure of a wrestler, an acrobat or the Christian figure of the sinner. The cloisonnist delineation of the forms with their thick black contours and the glowing blue background reveal the influence of the art of stained glass, which the artist studied at the beginning of his career.