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.
5 comments:
I saw this exhibition on humor at the Getty and also enjoyed it. My favorite piece was the drawing called Caricature of a Man Wearing an Overcoat by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Tiepolo was a very prolific late Italian Renaissance artist and his frescos cover the walls of many churches and schools in Venice. It was pleasing to see this quieter side of the artist in this simple ink drawing. I loved how he varied the line density to create shadows and give the man personality. I love the subtle humor of this piece; his awkward duck-like feet and funny expression.
“Much more tame in their commentary than those of today”? I’m not sure if I could agree with that. Have you ever seen the cartoons dealing with Grover Cleveland’s illegitimate son? The opposing party used “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?” as a rhyming ditty/ campaign slogan and the political cartoons dealing with the issue were pretty damning. I think the most famous one is here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Ma_ma_wheres_my_pa.jpg . I think cartoons over time have stayed at the same level in relation to politics. I laugh when I hear people talking about how politics has become so polarized and violent in recent times, because it’s always been like that. Campaign tracts from the 1700s read like a particularly nasty debate on CNN, except with more accusations of bastardy and treason. Adams vs. Jefferson are especially interesting.
It's interesting to see political arguments depicted through animation. It's as if through these drawings, the artists are allowed to say whatever they want to say that others cannot literally say. And in turn, the viewers also find it laughable because they tell exactly what they want to tell. It gives them the excuse to mock some of the issues and lay out the truth. I also enjoyed the image of the drawing you posted... I found it very whimsical. In general those simple ink drawings are fun to look at as it is easy to notice the details created by a simple stroke of a pen..
It's very interesting that the humor in static drawing has sometimes been abandoned by the animators. Still images can actually be much more comical and satire. I think it's the ambiguity of what the static image has shown that creates such feeling and value. Same as the photography, the western drawings are very much relying on the content. Compared to east Asian, as far as I know, the Chinese, Japanese filmmakers are very in favor of using their sense of static images. And that I think is the difference between the Hollywood style and east Asian cinema. That may also be the reason why the east Asian moving images arts are often considered as more artistic rather than entertaining.
Thanks for posting about this exhibition…now I really wish I could go see it! I wonder what other issues besides politics did art utilize humor to communicate to its spectators? Was da Vinci’s piece your favorite? Perhaps you can include an image of the work so your readers can see what it looks like. It will help reinforce your description. I think the exhibition should include more than just drawings. It would certainly be interesting to see how humor is expressed in other mediums like sculpture or even in fashion. Or perhaps the exhibition can also investigate how humor is depicted without the use of colors…unless it already showcases that idea? Your post has certainly raised my interest and made me want to find out more information about the artworks included in this exhibition.
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