Putti at play 1850 - 1900

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise sketched ‘Putti at Play’ in the early 20th century, using pen and brown ink with brush and gray wash on paper. Lachaise was a queer, immigrant artist, and his personal experiences and beliefs shaped his artistic vision. During a time when the representation of the human body was often idealized, Lachaise celebrated the human form in all its diversity. Here, though, he uses the cherubic form to play with the idea of innocence. The putti frolic amidst clouds, one blindfolded, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. They appear to be floating in a space that is free from earthly constraints. There’s something melancholic in the putti’s innocence, and the realization that innocence is always fleeting, always shadowed by experience. Through ‘Putti at Play,’ Lachaise creates a world where the burdens of identity seem to disappear, inviting us to reflect on the fleeting nature of childhood and the complexities of human experience.