Study for The Last Clown, Déjà-vu
Francis Alÿs
Belgian, born 1959
1995
A small oval encaustic-on-canvas study in which Alÿs sketches a pale yellow dog and cropped walking figures to explore movement, repetition, and the slightly absurd, performative moment of his project The Last Clown.
Set like a painted medallion on raw linen, the waxy, muted green ground and soft, blurred edges make the clipped legs, folded hands, and the yellow dog hover like a remembered, half-forgotten snapshot of motion.
As a preparatory study, it shows how Alÿs used the tactile, time‑laden quality of encaustic to translate his long engagement with walking, ritual, and everyday absurdity into a quietly poetic visual language.
Medium
Diptych, encaustic on canvas
Dimensions
Each: 7 1/2 x 9 3/4" (19.1 x 24.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of The Speyer Family Foundation, Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf, and Committee on Media Funds
Accession
209.2007.2a-b
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
