Clown 

Jules Schmalzigaug created this abstract watercolor painting titled "Clown." Born in Belgium and later an Italian citizen, Schmalzigaug was a futurist painter who explored themes of modernity, movement, and urban life. In this piece, he seems to ask us, what does it mean to be a figure of entertainment? The clown, traditionally a figure of joy, is here rendered through simple blocks of color: red for the nose and mouth, blue for the eyes and the suggestion of a teardrop. There is a sadness or perhaps a sense of alienation that seeps through the abstraction. The artist avoids traditional representation, opting instead to portray the emotional essence of the clown. Schmalzigaug tragically took his own life at a young age, leaving us to wonder if this clown is in some way a self-portrait of an artist wrestling with identity and the weight of a rapidly changing world.