“ It reflects my interest in eighteenth century paintings, particularly that of Watteau ... The Pierrots and harlequins were part of our general vocabulary, characters taken from the Commedia dell'arte, particularly popular in the eighteenth century.”
- Jacques Lipchitz

Jacques Lipchitz was at the forefront of Cubism. Born in Lithuania in 1891, Lipchitz moved to Paris in 1909 to study fine art. Having received a traditional training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian, Lipchitz’s friendship with Gris and Picasso in Montmatre introduced him to Cubism.

Lipchitz was a leading figure in the translation of the two dimensional Cubist theories of painting, developed by Picasso and Braque, into three dimensional sculptural form. In 'Pierrot au Clarinet', the artist reduced and distorts the scene into varying geometric planes. The figure is seen from many angels and perspectives, with the surface of the sculpture incised with both shallow and deep facets to emphasise the overlapping forms.
Between 1919-1920 Lipchitz created a series of 10 musician sculptures, including the present work.

'Pierrot au Clarinet' takes its subject from the commedia dell’arte, a theatrical rendition of improvised dialogues performed by stock characters popular between the 16th and 18th centuries in Europe. The troupes travelled extensively throughout Europe, including the French court, inspiring such artists as Antoine Watteau with their comedic dramas. Interest in commedia dell’arte was re-ignited at the turn of the 20th century, with Cézanne, Derain, Gris, and Picasso all depicting the Harlequin and Pierrot in a number of their works.

Lipchitz always cast his sculptures in an edition of seven. With the onset of World War II, as a Jewish artist, he was forced to flee Paris for New York, not returning to the French capital until the war was over. On his return, he managed to retrieve his plasters and, having only made one or two casts of each sculpture before the war, he was able to complete the editions working with the Modern Art Foundry in New York.

Pierrot au clarinet was first in the collection of American philanthropist and collector Morton D. May. May amassed one of the largest collections of Cubism and German Expressionist art in America and donated over one thousand works from his collection to various institutions. He lent this sculpture to the important 1952-3 MoMA exhibition ‘Musical Themes’. Another cast of 'Pierrot au clarinet' is in the Kemper Art Museum, while the terracotta version is in the Art Institute of Chicago. Other examples from Lipchitz’s musician series are now in the Barnes Foundation, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.