Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: Alexander Archipenko’s "Carrousel Pierrot," from 1913, is a painted plaster sculpture nearly 2 feet tall with a rectangular base around 2 feet wide by 1 foot deep. Brightly colored three-dimensional geometric shapes are assembled into an abstract human figure. The figure’s torso leans forward, and its legs are spread apart widely as if taking a large step.  

The sculpture is made of roughly geometric forms that bend and curve—including a cone, spheres, cylindrical shapes, and irregular three-dimensional blocks. The figure stands atop a rectangular base with a sloping, undulating surface. These forms are all painted in cheery, bright colors: fire-truck red, mustard yellow, bubble-gum pink, grass green, sky blue, cream, and black. Generally, the planes of each shape are composed of alternating solid colors, separated by straight lines, some curving. 

A small sphere sits atop the sculpture, forming the figure’s head. The top of the sphere is painted cream and black while its face is painted a solid brick red. The small head rests on a large downward-pointing cone, forming the figure’s torso. The top of this conical torso is a flat circle about four times the diameter of the sphere, so the head seems to poke out from a playfully wide yellow collar. Gently curving arms are attached to the cone, which narrows downward to the figure’s waist. Colorful vertical stripes on the torso taper with the cone, forming triangular shapes alternating in emerald green, brick red, sky blue, and black.  

Long, slightly curving legs extend from the base of the cone. Other elements are adjacent to the figure. For example, a second sphere, painted sky blue, seems to hover in front of the figure’s torso; its edge is attached to the conical torso. A curving cross-shaped form extends from the figure’s right arm and rests beside the figure. Looking closely, one can read two words painted on a mustard plane of the arm: venez rire, or “come and laugh.”  

The entire sculpture is solid yet light, with parts that seem to be in movement or suspension, especially as we move around the work and experience it from all sides. Its forms have a softness to them with rounded and dented edges. Overall, the sculpture has a handmade quality. Textured brushstrokes are visible, and some parts of the glossy paint are cracked or flaking.   

This subject of this sculpture is the sad clown Pierrot, typically presented as an all-white figure. Inspired by a festival where “dozens of carousels with horses, swings, gondolas, and airplanes imitate the rotation of the earth,” Pierrot’s body evokes the dizzying feeling of spinning., The repeating colors and clown’s circular torso – like an upside-down tented carousel – combines velocity with the thrills of modern entertainment.

Orphism - Verbal Descriptions

Exhibition Website

Description of Carrousel Pierrot, 1913

Listen to audio about exhibitions and artworks at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark building is home to a collection of modern and contemporary masterpieces.

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