Paul Guillaume, recognizable beneath the features of Pierrot, commissioned this composition from Derain in 1924. The painting was well received by the critics and often reproduced, and the dealer was really taken with it, keeping it for his private collection and placing it in a prominent position in his living room. The painter was familiar with the world of the theater, regularly involved in designing new scenery, ballet, and opera costumes. The popular commedia dell'arte theater saw something of a revival in the 1920s and became a favorite theme for artists like Picasso, Gris, and Severini, inspiring Derain to produce several works, this one doubtless being the most spectacular. With its unusual dimensions and square format, a feeling of disturbing strangeness reigns in this composition. The almost life-size characters, off-balance silhouettes carried along in a dance step, seem to float in an unlikely arid landscape whose schematic treatment makes it look even more unreal. Derain turns a comedy scene, in which certain details, notably the stringless instruments, might elicit a smile, into a scene where the dominant feeling is the tragedy of life, for the figures are so filled with sadness. With such a personal tone to this work, Derain stands as a follower of the past masters he admired, such as Watteau.

Accession number: RF 1960 41 

Signature: S.B.DR. : a derain

Provenance:

From 1925, in the collection of Paul Guillaume, Paris
Until 1959, in the collection of Mrs. Jean Walter, Paris
1959, acquired from Mrs. Jean Walter with the support of the Society of Friends of the Louvre (approval decree of the sale dated 21/02/1959)
Louvre Museum, Paris
Orangerie Museum, Paris