Lot Essay
The year 1935 marked an abrupt change in Mir's painting. While there were no personal conflicts, and the open violence of civil war in Spain was still a year away, Mir's imagination turned to the grotesque, savage and anxiety-ridden. "From the beginning of 1935, and for some years thereafter, no matter what Mir set out to do, his brush conjured up nothing but monsters." (J. Dupin, Mir, New York, 1962, p. 265)
However, there is nothing overtly 'monstrous' about Arlequin, painted in the middle of 1935, that is, well into this new phase in Mir's painting. In this subject, and in its classically balanced handling of abstract shapes, Arlequin represents a moment of calm in this troubled sea of the artist's imagination, although it is no less complex or multi-dimensional in its conception than many of the artist's more violent subjects of this period.
The subject is the stock character of the traditional Italian commedia dell'arte, a figure full of puckish mischief. Indeed, the word "Arlequin" is derived from the Middle French word for "demon". In contrast to other figures in Mir's drawing at this time, with their huge noses and grotesque expressions, Arlequin is here constructed entirely out of abstract shapes, although they are not without
reference to the natural world or human sphere. The upper part is composed of a crescent shape, which hints at a dark, lunatic character. However, the effect is largely mitigated by the alternating patterns of colors, corresponding to the colored patterns in the traditional harlequin costume.
Both in terms of its subject and formal structure Mir's Arlequin appears deeply indebted to Picasso, in whose oeuvre the character of Harlequin features from the turn of the century onward, and is often a mask for the artist himself. The sharp horn-shaped forms recall Picasso's bathers of the late 1920's, which represent that artist at the height of his involvement with Surrealism.
Arlequin shares with other Mir gouaches of this period a cloudy, splatter-brushed background, against which the flatly-painted and brightly-colored shapes stand out in high relief. The background is an explosion of color; the picture plane appears to exist in a state of sudden disintigration. Nevertheless, these forces are held in check by the carefully wrought balance of the design. In many ways Mir's Arlequin in a character capable acting out in a disruptive manner, yet, knowing the traditions of this comedic art form, we understand this behavior as a controlled mischief, and not without a certain pathos. These are qualities which Mir effectively projects in this uniquely poised and elegant composition.
However, there is nothing overtly 'monstrous' about Arlequin, painted in the middle of 1935, that is, well into this new phase in Mir's painting. In this subject, and in its classically balanced handling of abstract shapes, Arlequin represents a moment of calm in this troubled sea of the artist's imagination, although it is no less complex or multi-dimensional in its conception than many of the artist's more violent subjects of this period.
The subject is the stock character of the traditional Italian commedia dell'arte, a figure full of puckish mischief. Indeed, the word "Arlequin" is derived from the Middle French word for "demon". In contrast to other figures in Mir's drawing at this time, with their huge noses and grotesque expressions, Arlequin is here constructed entirely out of abstract shapes, although they are not without
reference to the natural world or human sphere. The upper part is composed of a crescent shape, which hints at a dark, lunatic character. However, the effect is largely mitigated by the alternating patterns of colors, corresponding to the colored patterns in the traditional harlequin costume.
Both in terms of its subject and formal structure Mir's Arlequin appears deeply indebted to Picasso, in whose oeuvre the character of Harlequin features from the turn of the century onward, and is often a mask for the artist himself. The sharp horn-shaped forms recall Picasso's bathers of the late 1920's, which represent that artist at the height of his involvement with Surrealism.
Arlequin shares with other Mir gouaches of this period a cloudy, splatter-brushed background, against which the flatly-painted and brightly-colored shapes stand out in high relief. The background is an explosion of color; the picture plane appears to exist in a state of sudden disintigration. Nevertheless, these forces are held in check by the carefully wrought balance of the design. In many ways Mir's Arlequin in a character capable acting out in a disruptive manner, yet, knowing the traditions of this comedic art form, we understand this behavior as a controlled mischief, and not without a certain pathos. These are qualities which Mir effectively projects in this uniquely poised and elegant composition.