Hendrick AvercampDutch, about 1615 - 1620
Pencil, pen and ink, and gouache
A Light Touch: Humor in Drawing
Getty Center Exhibitions
Sept 23 - Dec 7
This past weekend I visited the Getty Center and viewed among other things the Humor in Drawing exhibition. I am not one to often visit art galleries, however I had heard this exhibit was worth going to see. When I arrived I was immediately captured by the presentation of the different aspects of humor in drawing. Many of the pieces were placed around according to style and I found myself staring intently at each piece, trying to understand the method behind them.
The first piece I viewed was a piece by Leonardo da Vinci. It featured a man with long, fluffed out hair laughing at some unseen comedy. What first drew me to the piece was the grotesque manner in which he was presented by da Vinci. The man was created on canvas with black ink and exemplified a caricature drawing one might have made while walking the boardwalk. I could not help but find the piece comical with the man's highly excentuated features. His sharp chin and mangle of hair were pulled together in a manical cackle. The piece intrigued me as I continued to view it despite its displeasing appearance.
The pieces in the gallery I found to produce the strongest reactions in me were those of political satire. Many of the pieces hailed from Northern Europe, where artists took to addressing government issues with humor. It was interesting to see the progression of such pieces and compare them to what I know of current political satires. The pieces often were much more tame in their commentary than those of today. The piece I found myself drawn to was of a representation of a frog sitting atop a pile of coins and holding a circular object. It was meant as a slight against the greed for wealth. I found it to be comical in a way where it was ineffective in speaking about greed. I attribute this mostly to the fact that it is from a much different time and many other pieces I viewed had similar presentation. The pieces exeplified a straightforward approach in having seemingly random allegories.
