Harlequin

The motif which has become the emblem of Iser’s creation is the harlequin. But his harlequins have lost some of the symbolic connotations found in Western art. Much like the clowns Nicolae Tonitza and Corneliu Mihăilescu painted, or like the dancers and the actors painted by Margareta Sterian and by Magdalena Rădulescu, Iser’s harlequins have emotions which express not only the human condition but also the loneliness of the actor, not understood, hypersensitive, pushed aside by a world which cannot accept that he is “different”. The ambivalence of this character of the ‘commedia dell’ arte’ allows for numerous and contradictory interpretations forcing us to make the effort to understand why an apparently ludicrous image can induce a feeling of sadness. The composition is structured on curve lines, from those of the body of the character to those of the guitar. The face of this model is almost caricaturized, it is an expression of concentration, rather than a description. The costume allows the artist to resort to chromatic contrast, while his face and the posture: drooping shoulders, sad eyes and mouth – are signs of fatigue and resignation. ©Iulia Mesea, Galeria de Artă Românească.Ghid, Sibiu 2011.