Armand Henrion: The Artist Who Always Painted Himself As A Clown

Armand Henrion (1875 – 1958) was a Belgian-born artist. He contributed to the Expressionist movement, worked in France and became a French citizen. And he liked to paint self-portraits – hundreds of them – in which he is dressed as a clown (more Pierrot than Bozo).

 

 

Pierrot first appeared in French writer Molière’s (15 January 1622 – 17 February 1673) play Don Juan (1665) . He’s the tragic solitary peasant who masks his cynicism with indolence and good humour. He has appeared in many novels, plays, poems and works of art, giving audiences laughs at his own expense with his constant run-ins with tragedy and hardship.