The Balloon Man

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Posed like a doll, a man stands on blue grass by a pink fence and holds a red balloon. The geometric shapes that compose his body recall cubism and the mannequin figures of Giorgio de Chirico; the hard lines offset his moon-like face and the whimsical, rounded shapes (perhaps imaginary balloons?) that float around him. The sand Clarke mixed into her paint adds to the scene's hazy dreaminess. She exhibited The Balloon Man at two prominent galleries: the Phillips in Washington, D.C., and the Bignou in New York City, where Barnes purchased it in 1943.

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