Harlequinade 1911

Editor: This is Albert Bloch’s “Harlequinade,” painted in 1911. It's an oil painting, and it’s currently hanging at MoMA. My first impression is that it’s quite dreamlike. The figures are almost floating, lost in thought. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Oh, I think you nailed it with "dreamlike." For me, it's a dive into the psyche, all splashed with carnival colors. Bloch, you know, was buddies with the Blaue Reiter group, and like them, he's after something beyond just depicting reality. He’s going for feeling, a spiritual zing, perhaps even the slightly manic edge of modern life. Notice how those harlequins aren’t exactly jolly? Editor: Definitely! They're clowns, but there is something unsettling about them. Are they all harlequins? I'm wondering about their specific roles or meanings. Curator: That’s a lovely question. Not necessarily. 'Harlequinade' hints at a performance, a masquerade if you will, within our minds. Some of the figures seem vulnerable, others mischievous. Bloch blurs those boundaries of personality with an eye of dark humour, as if staging his doubts. That bright patch, resembling a small sun, a hopeful reminder that beyond our shadows there will be warmth again! What a thought! Editor: I hadn’t even noticed that "sun" before. Curator: Isn't it great how one peek brings another? It is like poetry, a visual experience. The best paintings have infinite entrances. Editor: Absolutely. Thanks, I'll never see clowns in quite the same way again! Curator: Me neither, this conversation has left me dancing with new angles!