Post by Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art

Love and death, comedy turned tragedy: In 1916, German Expressionist Fritz Ascher draws the final scene of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera I Pagliacci, which was first performed in Berlin in 1909. By way of the story within the story that comprises the opera’s narrative, Pagliaccio –Bajazzo–is the character played by Canio, the leader of a traveling theater troupe. In the opera’s story, Canio’s wife, Nedda, has been having an affair with the farmer, Silvio. Tonio, a jealous troupe member who overhears a conversation between the two lovers, tells Canio about the affair. The culmination of the crisis comes during the performance. Canio, playing the sad clown Bajazzo, is becoming unhinged. His sadness interwoven with and overcome by his anger at the real affair, he ceases to be able to distinguish between Bajazzo’s staged sadness over the love of Columbina for Arlecchino and his actual anger and sadness at the relationship between Silvio and Nedda, who is playing the role of Colombina. He ends up stabbing Colombina/Nedda with a real knife and when Silvio, to whom she cries out, leaps from the audience onto the stage, too late, in fact, to protect her, Canio stabs him as well. Suddenly the audience realizes that this is no longer a play, as Canio utters the final words “la commedia e finite” – the comedy is over”. IMAGES: Fritz Ascher, Bajazzo, 1916. Check out the German artist Fritz Ascher and his unusual depictions of the clown: https://lnkd.in/dVyDbTzT #Pierrot #Clown #art #FritzAscher #Germanartist #History #mask #opera