Marionette Clown
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 51 x 38.4 cm (20 1/16 x 15 1/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 28" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16869
Art Historical Context
**Marionette Clown** Lillian Stahl, created around 1936, captures the whimsical charm of an American folk puppet in vibrant watercolor, gouache, graphite on paperboard. 51 x 38.4 cm, this detailed rendering depicts a28-inch-high marionette, its exaggerated features and colorful costume evoking the playful world of puppetry theater popular in early 20th-century America. Stahl's precise technique blends the fluidity of watercolors for lively hues with gouache's opacity for bold highlights and graphite's fine lines for intricate details like strings and joints, bringing the inanimate figure to li...