Pierrot III 1921

Curator: Here we have Lodewijk Schelfhout's 1921 pencil drawing, "Pierrot III," currently residing in the Rijksmuseum's collection. Editor: Immediately, the face strikes me—it's a face caught between sleep and melancholy, shrouded in quietness. The starkness of the pencil really amplifies that stillness. Curator: Schelfhout's use of the Pierrot character is intriguing here. Pierrot, traditionally a figure of naive sadness, is rendered with closed eyes. What do you make of that choice? Editor: The closed eyes are essential, I think. They signify an inner world, a turning inward. Pierrot, as a symbol, is always seeking something just out of reach, the unobtainable moon. Here, that search is entirely internalized. Perhaps it suggests disillusionment, or even a deliberate withdrawal from the external world. It invites reflection upon the private domain of human emotion and experience. Curator: I find myself wondering about the era—1921, the aftermath of war. Could this Pierrot be a metaphor for a society grappling with trauma, finding solace only in introspection? Editor: Absolutely! The entire Pierrot archetype experienced a massive resurgence after the first world war in visual arts and literature, like the perfect emblem of a broken world and shattered ideals. The frilled collar also evokes a sort of confinement or even gentle suffocation. Everything about the composition conveys that introspective isolation, that psychological fallout of a chaotic and senseless conflict. It also touches on very classical interpretations of the Fool card in the Tarot, which sometimes refers to a spiritual journey beyond worldly burdens. Curator: Yes, and his simple raiment contrasts starkly with the expressive lines around his face, further emphasizing the dichotomy between outer presentation and inner turmoil. The fact that it's pencil adds to the intimacy—as if it's a quickly jotted-down thought. Editor: A fugitive feeling, preserved on paper. He could be us. A sad but beautiful assertion of human consciousness taking pause in the quiet recesses of memory and longing.