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Cultural references to Pierrot

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Cultural references to Pierrot have been made since the inception of the character in the 17th century. His character in contemporary popular culture — in poetry, fiction, and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall — is that of the sad clown, often pining for love of Columbine, who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. Many cultural movements found him amenable to their respective causes: Decadents turned him into a disillusioned foe of idealism; Symbolists saw him as a lonely fellow-sufferer; Modernists converted him into a Whistlerian subject for canvases devoted to form and color and line.

This page lists the extensive use of Pierrot's stock character (whiteface with a tear, white shirt, cap, etc.) chronologically arranged according to country and artistic medium (e.g. music, film, literature). The vast geographical range from Europe to Asia and beyond shows how widespread interest in Pierrot is, as does the variation in the artistic styles, from traditional ballet to rap-songs and music videos.

Seventeenth century

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Antoine Watteau: Italian Actors, c. 1719. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

France

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Playwrights

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Eighteenth century

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France

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Performing artists

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Antoine Watteau: Gilles (or Pierrot) and Four Other Characters of the Commedia dell'arte, c. 1718. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Nicolas Lancret: Actors of the Comédie-Italienne, between 1716 and 1736. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard: A Boy as Pierrot, between 1776 and 1780. The Wallace Collection, London.

Plays

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  • Trophonius's Cave (1722) and The Golden Ass (1725)[5]

Songs

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Visual arts

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England

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Performers

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  • Carlo Delpini as Pierrot[7] So conceived, Pierrot was easily and naturally displaced by the native English Clown when the latter found a suitably brilliant interpreter. It did so in 1800, when "Joey" Grimaldi made his celebrated debut in the role.[8]
  • Tiberio Fiorilli as Scaramouche in London.[9]
  • John Rich, The Jealous Doctor; or, The Intriguing Dame, pantomime

Denmark

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Performers

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Francisco de Goya: Itinerant Actors (1793). Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Germany

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Plays

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Spain

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Paintings

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  • Goya's Itinerant Actors (1793)

Nineteenth century

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Deburau at the Théâtre des Funambules

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Auguste Bouquet: Jean-Gaspard Deburau, c. 1830.

Performers

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Writers

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Visual arts

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Pantomime after Baptiste: Charles Deburau, Paul Legrand, and their successors

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Writers

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  • Marquis Pierrot (1847)
  • Pantomime of the Attorney (1865)
  • Gustave Flaubert, Pierrot in the Seraglio (1855)

Pantomime and late nineteenth-century art

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France

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Popular and literary pantomime
Atelier Nadar: Sarah Bernhardt in Jean Richepin's Pierrot the Murderer, 1883. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Jules Chéret: Title-page of Hennique and Huysmans' Pierrot the Skeptic, 1881
Paul Cézanne: Mardi gras (Pierrot and Harlequin), 1888, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
  • A female version, Pierrette, appears on the scene
Songs
  • Xavier Privas wrote the songs ["Pierrette Is Dead", "Pierrette's Christmas"]
Performing artists
Visual arts, fiction, poetry, music, and film

Belgium

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Painters
Aubrey Beardsley: "The Death of Pierrot", The Savoy, August 1896.

Austria and Germany

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Paul Hoecker: Pierrots with Pipes, c. 1900. Location unknown.

Italy

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Spain

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North America

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Central and South America

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  • Rubén Darío, 1898 prose-poem The Eternal Adventure of Pierrot and Columbine.

Russia

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Dance

Early twentieth century (1901–1950): notable works

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Non-operatic works for stage and screen

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Plays, playlets, pantomimes, and revues

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Vsevolod Meyerhold dressed as Pierrot for his own production of Alexander Blok's Fairground Booth, 1906.

Ballet, cabaret, and Pierrot troupes

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Alexander Vertinsky as Pierrot. Poster by pre-revolutionary unknown artist.
Asta Nielsen as Pierrot in Urban Gad's Behind Comedy's Mask (1913). Poster by Ernst Deutsch-Dryden.
  • German—Schlemmer, Oskar, and Paul Hindemith: Triadic Ballet (1922).
  • Russian—Fokine, Michel: The Immortal Pierrot (1925; ballet, premiered in New York City); Legat, Nikolai and Sergei: The Fairy Doll Pas de trois (1903; ballet; added to production of Josef Bayer's ballet Die Puppenfee in St. Petersburg; music by Riccardo Drigo; revived in 1912 as Les Coquetteries de Columbine, with Anna Pavlova).
    • Vertinsky, Alexander: Cabaret singer (1889–1957)—became known as the "Russian Pierrot" after debuting around 1916 with "Pierrot's doleful ditties"—songs that chronicled tragic incidents in the life of Pierrot. Dressed in black, his face powdered white, he performed world-wide, settling for nine years in Paris in 1923 to play the Montmartre cabarets. One of his admirers, Konstantin Sokolsky, assumed his Pierrot persona when he debuted as a singer in 1928.
  • See also Pierrot lunaire below.

Films

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Visual arts

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Works on canvas, paper, and board

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Maxfield Parrish: The Lantern-Bearers, 1908. Appeared as frontispiece of Collier's Weekly, December 10, 1910.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: White Pierrot, 1901/1902. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit.
Leo Rauth: "A Welcome Guest", Illustrite Zeitung, February 15, 1912.
Zinaida Serebriakova: Self-Portrait as Pierrot, 1911. Odessa Art Museum.
Konstantin Somov: Lady and Pierrot, 1910. Odessa Art Museum.
Vasilij Suhaev and Alexandre Yakovlev: Harlequin and Pierrot (Self-Portraits of and by Suhaev and A. Yakovlev), 1914. Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
Juan Gris: Pierrot, 1919. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Gris: Pierrot, 1921. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
  • American—Bloch, Albert (worked mainly in Germany as member of Der Blaue Reiter): Many works, including Harlequinade (1911), Pierrot (1911); Piping Pierrot (1911), Harlequin and Pierrot (1913), Three Pierrots and Harlequin (1914); Bradley, Will: Various posters and illustrations (see, e.g., "Banning" under Poetry below); Heintzelman, Arthur William: Pierrot (n.d.); Hopper, Edward: Soir Bleu (1914); Kuhn, Walt: Portrait of the Artist as a Clown (1932), Study for Young Clown (1932), Clown in Blue (1933), Clown (1945); Parrish, Maxfield: Pierrot's Serenade (1908), The Lantern-Bearers (1908), Her Window (1922); Sloan, John: Old Clown Making Up (1910); Yasuo Kuniyoshi (born in Japan): The Clown (1948).
  • Austrian—Eggeler, Stefan: Many works, including "Pierrot's Song of Love and Death" (#1 of Musical Miniatures [1921]), 6 lithographs in 1922 [German] ed. of Arthur Schnitzler's Veil of Pierrette (see above, under Plays, playlets, pantomimes, and revues), The Disappointed Lover (1922), On the Way Home (1922); Geiger, Richard (worked mainly in Hungary): Many works, including Columbine and Pierrot (1920), Duet (c. 1925), Pierrot and Columbine (1937); Kirchner, Raphael: The Loves of Pierrot (c. 1920); Kubin, Alfred: Death of Pierrot (1922); Schiele, Egon: Pierrot (Self-Portrait) (1914).
  • Belgian—Ensor, James: Pierrot and Skeletons (1905), Pierrot and Skeletons (1907), Intrigued Masks (1930); Henrion, Armand: Series of self-portraits as Pierrot (1920s).
  • Brazilian—Di Cavalcanti: Pierrot (1924).
  • British—Armstrong, John: Veronica as a Clown (1950); Knight, Laura: Clown (n.d.); Sickert, Walter: Pierrot and Woman Embracing (1903–1904), Brighton Pierrots (1915; two versions).
  • Canadian—Manigault, Edward Middleton (worked mainly in U.S.A.): The Clown (1912), Eyes of Morning (Nymph and Pierrot) (1913).
  • Cuban—Beltrán Masses, Federico (worked in Spain): Azure Hour (1917), Sick Pierrot (1929).
  • Czech—Kubišta, Bohumil: Pierrot (1911).
  • Danish—Nielsen, Kay (worked in England 1911–16): Pierrot (c. 1911).
  • French—Alleaume, Ludovic: Poor Pierrot (1915); Derain, André: Pierrot (1923–1924), Harlequin and Pierrot (c. 1924); Gabain, Ethel: Many works, including Pierrot (1916), Pierrot's Love-letter (1917), Unfaithful Pierrot (1919); La Fresnaye, Roger de: Study for "Pierrot" (1921); La Touche, Gaston de: Pierrot's Greeting (n.d.); Laurens, Henri: Pierrot (c. 1922); Matisse, Henri: The Burial of Pierrot (1943); Mossa, Gustav-Adolf: Pierrot and the Chimera (1906), Pierrot Takes His Leave (1906), Pierrot and His Doll (1907); Picabia, Francis: Pierrot (early 1930s), Hanged Pierrot (c. 1941); Renoir, Pierre-Auguste: White Pierrot (1901/1902); Rouault, Georges: Many works, including White Pierrot (1911), Pierrot (1920), Pierrot (1937–1938), Pierrot (or Pierrette) (1939), Aristocratic Pierrot (1942), The Wise Pierrot (1943), Blue Pierrots with Bouquet (c. 1946).
  • German—Beckmann, Max: Pierrot and Mask (1920), Before the Masked Ball (1922), Carnival (1943); Campendonk, Heinrich: Pierrot with Mask (1916), Pierrot (with Serpent) (1923), Pierrot with Sunflower (1925); Dix, Otto: Masks in Ruins (1946); Erler, Fritz: Black Pierrot (1908); Faure, Amandus: Standing Artist and Pierrot (1909); Heckel, Erich: Dead Pierrot (1914); Hofer, Karl: Circus Folk (c. 1921), Masquerade a.k.a. Three Masks (1922); Leman, Ulrich: The Juggler (1913); Macke, August: Many works, including Ballets Russes (1912), Clown (Pierrot) (1913), Face of Pierrot (1913), Pierrot and Woman (1913); Mammen, Jeanne: The Death of Pierrot (n.d.); Nolde, Emil: Pierrot and White Lilies (c. 1911), Women and Pierrot (1917); Rauth, Leo: Many works, including Pierrot and Columbine (1911), A Welcome Guest (1912), Confession of Love (1912), In the Spotlight (1914); Schlemmer, Oskar: Pierrot and Two Figures (1923); Werner, Theodor: Pierrot lunaire (1942).
  • Italian—Modigliani, Amedeo (worked mainly in France): Pierrot (1915); Severini, Gino: Many works, including The Two Pierrots (1922), Pierrot (1923), Pierrot the Musician (1924), The Music Lesson (1928–1929), The Carnival (1955).
  • Mexican—Cantú, Federico: Many works, including The Death of Pierrot (1930–1934), Prelude to the Triumph of Death (1934), The Triumph of Death (1939); Clemente Orozco, José: The Clowns of War Arguing in Hell (1940s); Montenegro, Roberto: Skull Pierrot (1945); Zárraga, Ángel: Woman and Puppet (1909).
  • Russian—Chagall, Marc (worked mainly in France): Pierrot with Umbrella (1926); Serebriakova, Zinaida: Self-Portrait as Pierrot (1911); Somov, Konstantin: Lady and Pierrot (1910), Curtain Design for Moscow Free Theater (1913), Italian Comedy (1914; two versions); Suhaev, Vasilij, and Alexandre Yakovlev: Harlequin and Pierrot (Self-Portraits of and by Suhaev and A. Yakovlev) (1914); Tchelitchew, Pavel (worked mainly in France and U.S.A.): Pierrot (1930).
  • Spanish—Briones Carmona, Fernando: Melancholy Pierrot (1945); Dalí, Salvador: Pierrot's Love (c. 1905), Pierrot with Guitar (1924), Pierrot Playing the Guitar (1925); García Lorca, Federico: Pierrot lunar (1928); Gris, Juan (worked mainly in France): Many works, including Pierrot (1919), Pierrot (1921), Pierrot Playing Guitar (1923), Pierrot with Book (1924); Picasso, Pablo (worked mainly in France): Many works, including Pierrot (1918), Pierrot and Harlequin (1920), Three Musicians (1921; two versions), Portrait of Adolescent as Pierrot (1922), Paul as Pierrot (1925); Valle, Evaristo: Pierrot (1909).
  • Swiss—Klee, Paul (worked mainly in Germany): Many works, including Head of a Young Pierrot (1912), Captive Pierrot (1923), Pierrot Lunaire (1924), Pierrot Penitent (1939); Menta, Edouard John: Pierrot's Dream (1908).
  • Ukrainian—Andriienko-Nechytailo, Mykhailo (worked mainly in France): Pierrot with Heart (1921).

Sculptures and constructions

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Cornell, Joseph: A Dressing Room for Gilles (1939).
  • French—Vermare, André-César: Pierrot (n.d.; terracotta).
  • German—Hub, Emil: Pierrot (c. 1920; bronze).
  • Lithuanian—Lipchitz, Jacques (worked mainly in France and U.S.A.): Pierrot (1909), Detachable Figure (Pierrot) (1915), Pierrot with Clarinet (1919), Seated Pierrot (1922), Pierrot (1925), Pierrot with Clarinet (1926), Pierrot Escapes (1927).
  • Ukrainian—Archipenko, Alexander (worked mainly in France and U.S.A.): Carrousel Pierrot (1913), Pierrot (1942); Ekster, Aleksandra (worked mainly in France): Pierrot (1926).

Literature

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Poetry

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Fiction

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Music

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Songs and song-cycles

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Goetzl, Anselm: "Pierrot's Serenade" (1915; voice and piano; text by Frederick H. Martens); Hoiby, Lee: "Pierrot" (1950; #2 of Night Songs for voice and piano; text by Adelaide Crapsey [see above under Poetry]); Johnston, Jesse: "Pierrot: Trio for Women's Voices" (1911; vocal trio and piano); Kern, Jerome: "Poor Pierrot" (1931; voice and orchestra; lyrics by Otto Harbach). For settings of poems by Langston Hughes and Sara Teasdale, see also these notes.[76][83]
  • British—Coward, Sir Noël: "Parisian Pierrot" (1922; voice and orchestra); Scott, Cyril: "Pierrot amoureux" (1912; voice and piano), "Pierrot and the Moon Maiden" (1912; voice and piano; text by Ernest Dowson from Pierrot of the Minute [see above under England]); Shaw, Martin: "At Columbine's Grave" (1922; voice and piano; lyrics by Bliss Carman [see above under Poetry]).
  • French—Lannoy, Robert: "Pierrot the Street-Waif" (1938; choir with mixed voices and piano; text by Paul Verlaine); Poulenc, Francis: "Pierrot" (1933; voice and piano; text by Théodore de Banville); Privas, Xavier: Many works, in both Chansons vécues (1903; "Unfaithful Pierrot", "Pierrot Sings", etc.; voice and piano; texts by composer) and Chanson sentimentale (1906; "Pierrot's All Hallows", "Pierrot's Heart", etc.; voice and piano; texts by composer); Rhynal, Camille de: "The Poor Pierrot" (1906; voice and piano; text by R. Roberts).
  • German—Künneke, Eduard: [Five] Songs of Pierrot (1911; voice and piano; texts by Arthur Kahane).
  • Italian—Bixio, Cesare Andrea: "So Cries Pierrot" (1925; voice and piano; text by composer); Bussotti, Sylvano: "Pierrot" (1949; voice and harp).
  • Japanese—Osamu Shimizu: Moonlight and Pierrot Suite (1948/49; male chorus; text by Horiguchi Daigaku).
  • See also Pierrot lunaire below.

Instrumental works (solo and ensemble)

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Abelle, Victor: "Pierrot and Pierrette" (1906; piano); Neidlinger, William Harold: Piano Sketches (1905; #5: "Pierrot"; #7: "Columbine"); Oehmler, Leo: "Pierrot and Pierrette – Petite Gavotte" (1905; violin and piano).
  • Belgian—Strens, Jules: "Mon ami Pierrot" (1926; piano).
  • British—Scott, Cyril: "Two Pierrot Pieces" (1904; piano), "Pierrette" (1912; piano).
  • Brazilian—Nazareth, Ernesto: "Pierrot" (1914; piano: Brazilian tango).
  • Czech—Martinů, Bohuslav: "Pierrot's Serenade", from Marionettes, III (c. 1913, pub. 1923; piano).
  • French—Audan, Marguerite: "Pierrot and Pierrette" (1901; piano); Debussy, Claude: Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915; Debussy had considered calling it "Pierrot angry at the moon"); Popy, Francis: Pierrot Sleeps (n.d.; violin and piano); Salzedo, Carlos (worked mainly in U.S.A.): "Pierrot is Sad", from Sketches for Harpist Beginners, Series II (1942; harp); Satie, Erik: "Pierrot's Dinner" (1909; piano).
  • German—Bohm, Carl: Carnival (1907; #6: "Pierrot and Columbine"; piano); Kaun, Hugo: Pierrot and Columbine: Four Episodes (1907; piano).
  • Hungarian—Vecsey, Franz von: "Pierrot's Grief" (1933; violin and piano).
  • Italian—Drigo, Riccardo (worked mainly in Russia): "Pierrot's Song: Chanson-Serenade for Piano" (1922); Pierrot and Columbine" (1929; violin and piano). These pieces are re-workings of the famous "Serenade" from his score for the ballet Les Millions d'Arlequin (see Russia above).
  • Swiss—Bachmann, Alberto: Children's Scenes (1906; #2: "Little Pierrot"; violin and piano).

Works for orchestra

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Operas, operettas, and zarzuelas

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Late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries (1951– ): notable works

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In the latter half of the twentieth century, Pierrot continued to appear in the art of the Modernists—or at least of the long-lived among them: Chagall, Ernst, Goleminov, Hopper, Miró, Picasso—as well as in the work of their younger followers, such as Gerard Dillon, Indrek Hirv, and Roger Redgate. And when film arrived at a pinnacle of auteurism in the 1950s and '60s, aligning it with the earlier Modernist aesthetic, some of its most celebrated directors—Bergman, Fellini, Godard—turned naturally to Pierrot.

But Pierrot's most prominent place in the late twentieth century, as well as in the early twenty-first, has been in popular, not High Modernist, art. As the entries below tend to testify, Pierrot is most visible (as in the eighteenth century) in unapologetically popular genres—in circus acts and street-mime sketches, TV programs and Japanese anime, comic books and graphic novels, children's books and young adult fiction (especially fantasy and, in particular, vampire fiction), Hollywood films, and pop and rock music. He generally assumes one of three avatars: the sweet and innocent child (as in the children's books), the poignantly lovelorn and ineffectual being (as, notably, in the Jerry Cornelius novels of Michael Moorcock), or the somewhat sinister and depraved outsider (as in David Bowie's various experiments,[98] or Rachel Caine's vampire novels, or the S&M lyrics of the English rock group Placebo).

The format of the lists that follow is the same as that of the previous section, except for the Western pop-music singers and groups. These are listed alphabetically by first name, not last (e.g., "Stevie Wonder", not "Wonder, Stevie").

Non-operatic works for stage and screen

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Plays, pantomimes, variety shows, circus, and dance

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Films and television

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Visual arts

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Dellosso, Gabriela Gonzalez: Many works, most notably Garrik (n.d.); Hopper, Edward: Two Comedians (1966); Longo, Robert: Pressure (1982/83); Nauman, Bruce: No No New Museum (1987; videotape); Serrano, Andres: A History of Sex (Head) (1996).
  • Argentinian—Ortolan, Marco: Venetian Clown (n.d.); Soldi, Raúl: Pierrot (1969), Three Pierrots (n.d.).
  • Austrian—Absolon, Kurt: Cycle of Pierrot works (1951).
  • British—Hockney, David: Troop of Actors and Acrobats (1980; one of stage designs for Satie's Parade [see under Ballet, cabaret, and Pierrot troupes above]), paintings on Munich museum walls for group exhibition on Pierrot (1995); Self, Colin: Pierrot Blowing Dandelion Clock (1997).
  • Chilean—Bravo, Claudio: The Ladies and the Pierrot (1963).
  • Colombian—Botero, Fernando: Pierrot (2007), Pierrot lunaire (2007), Blue Pierrot (2007), White Pierrot (2008).
  • German—Alt, Otmar: Pierrot (n.d.).; Ernst, Max (worked mainly in France): Mon ami Pierrot (1974); Lüpertz, Markus: Pierrot lunaire: Chair (1984).
  • Italian—Barnabè, Duilio (worked mainly in France): Pierrot (1960).
  • Irish—Dillon, Gerard: Many works, including Bird and Bird Canvas (c. 1958), And the Time Passes (1962), The Brothers (1967), Beginnings (1968), Encounter (c. 1968), Red Nude with Loving Pierrot (c. 1970); Robinson, Markey: Many works.
  • Russian—Chagall, Marc (worked mainly in France): Circus Scene (late 1960s/early 1970s), Pierrot lunaire (1969).
  • Spanish—Miró, Joan (worked mainly in France and U.S.A.): Pierrot le fou (1964); Picasso, Pablo (worked mainly in France): Many works, including Pierrot with Newspaper and Bird (1969), various versions of Pierrot and Harlequin (1970, 1971), and metal cut-outs: Head of Pierrot (c. 1961), Pierrot (1961); Roig, Bernardí: Pierrot le fou (2009; polyester and neon lighting); Ruiz-Pipó, Manolo: Many works, including Orlando (Young Pierrot) (1978), Pierrot Lunaire (n.d.), Lunar Poem (n.d.).
  • Commercial art. A variety of Pierrot-themed items, including figurines, jewelry, posters, and bedclothes, are sold commercially.[104]

Literature

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Poetry

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Hecht, Anthony: "Clair de lune" (before 1977); Koestenbaum, Wayne: Pierrot Lunaire (2006; ten original poems with titles from the Giraud/Schoenberg cycle in Koestenbaum's Best-Selling Jewish Porn Films [2006]); Nyhart, Nina: "Captive Pierrot" (1988; after the Paul Klee painting); Peachum, Jack: "Our Pierrot in Autumn" (2008).
  • British—Moorcock, Michael: "Pierrot on the Moon" (1987); Smart, Harry: "The Pierrot" (1991).
  • Estonian—Hirv, Indrek: The Star Beggar (1993).
  • French—Butor, Michel and Michel Launay: Pierrot Lunaire (1982; retranslation into French of Hartleben's 21 poems used by Schoenberg [see Pierrot lunaire below], followed by original poems by Butor and Launay).
  • Italian—Brancaccio, Carmine: The Pierrot Quatrains (2007).
  • New Zealander—Sharp, Iain: The Pierrot Variations (1985).

Fiction

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  • American (U.S.A.)—Caine, Rachel: Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires, Book 4) (2008; vampire Myrnin dresses as Pierrot); Dennison, George: "A Tale of Pierrot" (1987); dePaola, Tomie: Sing, Pierrot, Sing: A Picture Book in Mime (1983; children's book, illustrated by the author); Hoban, Russell (has lived in England since 1969): Crocodile and Pierrot: A See-the-Story Book (1975; children's book, illustrated by Sylvie Selig).
  • Austrian—Frischmuth, Barbara: From the Life of Pierrot (1982).
  • Belgian—Norac, Carl: Pierrot d'amour (2002; children's book, illustrated by Jean-Luc Englebert).
  • Brazilian—Antunes, Ana Claudia: The Pierrot's Love (2009).
  • British—Gaiman, Neil (has lived in U.S.A. since 1992): "Harlequin Valentine" (1999), Harlequin Valentine (2001; graphic novel, illustrated by John Bolton); Greenland, Colin: "A Passion for Lord Pierrot" (1990); Moorcock, Michael: The English Assassin and The Condition of Muzak (1972, 1977; hero Jerry Cornelius morphs into role of Pierrot), "Feu Pierrot" (1978); Stevenson, Helen: Pierrot Lunaire (1995).
  • Canadian—Major, Henriette: The Vampire and the Pierrot (2000; children's book); Laurent McAllister: "Le Pierrot diffracté" ("The Diffracted Pierrot" [1992]).
  • French—Boutet, Gérard: Pierrot and the Secret of the Flint Stones (1999; children's book, illustrated by Jean-Claude Pertuzé); Dodé, Antoine: Pierrot Lunaire (2011; vol. 1 of projected graphic-novel trilogy, images by the author); Tournier, Michel: "Pierrot, or The Secrets of the Night" (1978).
  • Japanese—Kōtaro Isaka: A Pierrot a.k.a. Gravity Clown (2003; a film based on the novel was released in 2009).
  • Polish—Lobel, Anita (naturalized U.S. citizen 1956): Pierrot's ABC Garden (1992; children's book, illustrated by author).
  • Russian—Baranov, Dimitri: Black Pierrot (1991).
  • South Korean—Jung Young-moon: Moon-sick Pierrot (2013).
  • Spanish—Francés, Victoria: Misty Circus 1: Sasha, the Little Pierrot (2009; children's book, illustrated by author; a sequel, Misty Circus 2: the Night of the Witches, appeared in 2010).

Comic books

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Music

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Western classical and jazz

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Vocal
Instrumental
  • American (U.S.A.)—Brown, Earle: Tracking Pierrot (1992; chamber ensemble); DeNizio, John: a number of LPs and EPs[106] of experimental/drone music released under the moniker "Pierrot Lunaire" (2011– ); Lewis, John: "Two Lyric Pieces: Pierrot/Columbine", from album The John Lewis Piano (1957; piano and guitar); Rorem, Ned: Bright Music: Pierrot (1987; flute, two violins, cello, and piano); Wharton, Geoffry (works mainly in Germany): Five Pierrot Tangos (n.d.; violin/viola, flute, piano/synthesizer, cello, clarinet, and voice).
  • Argentinian—Franzetti, Carlos: Pierrot and Columbine (2012; small ensemble and string orchestra).
  • Austrian—Herf, Franz Richter: "Pierrot" (1955; piano).
  • British—Beamish, Sally: Commedia (1990; mixed quintet; theater piece without actors, in which Pierrot is portrayed by violin); Biberian, Gilbert: Variations and Fugue on "Au Clair de la Lune" (1967; wind quartet), Pierrot: A Ballet (1978; guitar duo); Hackett, Steve: "Pierrot", from Momentum (1988; guitar); Kinsey, Tony: "Pierrot" (1955; Quartet Le Sage); Musgrave, Thea: Pierrot (1985; for clarinet [Columbine], violin [Pierrot], and piano [Harlequin]; inspired dance by Jennifer Muller [see above under Plays, pantomimes, variety shows, circus, and dance]); Redgate, Roger: Pierrot on the Stage of Desire (1998; for Pierrot ensemble).
  • Bulgarian—Goleminov, Marin: "Pierrot", from Five Impressions (1959; piano).
  • Canadian—Longtin, Michel: The Death of Pierrot (1972; tape-recorder).
  • Dutch—Boer, Eduard de (a.k.a. Alexander Comitas): Pierrot: Scherzo for String Orchestra (1992).
  • Finnish—Tuomela, Tapio: Pierrot: Quintet No. 2 for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (2004).
  • French—Duhamel, Antoine: Pierrot le fou: Four Pieces for Orchestra (1965/66); Françaix, Jean: Pierrot, or The Secrets of the Night (1980; ballet, libretto by Michel Tournier; see above under Fiction); Lancen, Serge: Mascarade: For Brass Quintet and Wind Orchestra (1986; #3: "Pierrot"); Naulais, Jérôme: The Moods of Pierrot (n.d.; flute and piano).
  • German—Kirchner, Volker David: Pierrot's Gallows Songs (2001; clarinet); Kühmstedt, Paul: Dance-Visions: Burlesque Suite (1978; #3: "Pierrot and Pierrette").
  • Hungarian—Papp, Lajos: Pierrot Dreams: Four Pieces for Accordion (1993).
  • Italian—Guarnieri, Adriano: Pierrot Suite (1980; three chamber ensembles), Pierrot Pierrot! (1980; flutes, celesta, percussion); Paradiso, Michele: Pierrot: Ballet for Piano (in Four Hands) and Orchestra (2008); Pirola, Carlo: Story of Pierrot (n.d.; brass band); Stuppner, Hubert: Pierrot and Pierrette (1984; ballet, libretto by Arthur Schnitzler [see The Veil of Pierrette under Plays, playlets, pantomimes, and revues]); Vidale, Piero: Pierrot's Dream: Four Fantasy Impressions (1957; orchestra).
  • Russian—Koshkin, Nikita: "Pierrot and Harlequin", from Masquerades, II (1988; guitar); Voronov, Grigori: Pierrot and Harlequin (n.d. [recorded 2006]; saxophone and piano).
  • Swiss—Gaudibert, Éric: Pierrot, to the table! or The Poet's Supper (2003; percussion, accordion, saxophone, horn, piano).
  • Uruguayan—Pasquet, Luis (emigrated to Finland 1974): Triangle of Love (n.d.; #1: "Pierrot"; piano and brass band).
Opera

Rock/pop

[edit]
Group names and costumes
[edit]
  • American—Bob Dylan performed often in whiteface in his Rolling Thunder Revue (1975), partly in homage to the Barrault/Deburau Pierrot of Children of Paradise;[107] the face of Frank Sinatra is made up as Pierrot's (disfigured by a cherry nose à la Emmett Kelly) on the cover of his album Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958); Lady Gaga appears as Pierrot on the cover of her single "Applause" from her album Artpop (2013); Michael Jackson appears as Pierrot on the cover of the Michael Jackson Mega Box (2009), a DVD collection of interviews with the singer; "Puddles, the Sad Clown with the Golden Voice", a persona of "Big" Mike Geier, pays tribute to Pierrot on his concert tours and YouTube videos, most notably with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox.[108]
  • British—David Bowie dressed as Pierrot for the single and video of "Ashes to Ashes" (1980) and for the cover of his album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980;[109] referring to his ever-changing performing personae, Bowie told an interviewer in 1976,[110] "I'm Pierrot. I'm Everyman. What I'm doing is theatre ... the white face, the baggy pants – they're Pierrot, the eternal clown putting over the great sadness ..."); Leo Sayer dressed as Pierrot on tour following the release of his first album, Silverbird (1973); Robots in Disguise: The Tears (2008), a video by Graeme Pearce, features black-suited Pierrots involved in love triangle.
  • Finnish—Poets of the Fall front-man Marko Saaresto uses stage and video personae based on Pierrot, notably in the videos for singles "Carnival of Rust" (2006), "Can You Hear Me" (2011), "Cradled in Love" (2012) and "Drama for Life" (2016). His personae go by different names, including "Zoltar", "The Poet of the Fall" and "Jeremiah Peacekeeper".
  • Hungarian—Pierrot's Dream was a rock band performing from 1986 to 1996; its singer-founder Tamás Z. Marosi often appeared in a clown half-mask.
  • Italian—Pierrot Lunaire was a progressive rock/folk band.
  • Japanese—Közi often wore a Pierrot costume while a member of the visual rock band Malice Mizer (1992–2001); Pierrot was a rock band active from 1994 to 2006.
  • Russian—Cabaret Pierrot le Fou is a cabaret-noir group formed by Sergey Vasilyev in 2009; The Moon Pierrot was a conceptual rock band active from 1985 to 1992; it released its English-language studio album The Moon Pierrot L.P. in 1991 (a second album, Whispers & Shadows, recorded in 1992, was not released until 2013).
  • Scottish—Zal Cleminson, lead guitarist of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, appeared in whiteface throughout his years with the group.[111]
Songs, albums, and rock musicals
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fournier, p. 113, provides the information for this paragraph. "If, as Fournier points out, Molière gave [his Pierrot] "the white blouse of a French peasant", then I doubt very much that we have to look for traces of his origins [i.e., of the origins of the Italians' Pierrot] in the commedia dell'arte at all": Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, p. 20.
  2. ^ See especially Regnard's Happy-Go-Lucky Harlequin (1690), The Wayward Girls (1690), and The Coquette, or The Ladies' Academy (1691); Palaprat's The Level-headed Girl (1692); Houdar de la Motte's The Eccentrics, or The Italian (Les Originaux, ou l'Italien, 1693); and Brugière de Barante's The False Coquette (1694). All appear in the Gherardi collection.
  3. ^ Campardon, Spectacles, I, 391; tr. Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, p. 54, note 31.
  4. ^ Courville, II, 104; Campardon, Comédiens du roi, II, 145; Meldolesi.
  5. ^ Both in Piron, IV; Storey translates a scene from Trophonius's Cave in Pierrot: a critical history, pp. 57–58.
  6. ^ " ... without the least proof": Fournier, p. 114.
  7. ^ Disher 1925, p. 135.
  8. ^ Findlater 1978, p. 79.
  9. ^ On the French players in England, and particularly on Pierrot in early English entertainments, see Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, pp. 82–89.
  10. ^ http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Kunst_og_kultur/Teater/Danske_skuespillere/Casorti?highlight=pasquale%20casorti "Casorti", Gyldendals encyklopædi.
  11. ^ On Deburau's life, see Rémy, Jean-Gaspard Deburau; on his pantomime, see Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 7–35, and Nye (2014), Nye (2015–2016), and Nye (2016).
  12. ^ For a full discussion of the connection of all these writers with Deburau's Pierrot, see Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, pp. 104, 110–112, and Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 7, 74–151.
  13. ^ For a full discussion of the connection of all these writers with Deburau's Pierrot, see Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, pp. 104, 110–112, and Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 7, 74–151.
  14. ^ On these pantomimes and on late nineteenth-century French pantomime in general, see Storey, Pierrot: a critical history, pp. 115–33, and Pierrots on the stage, pp. 253–315.
  15. ^ See, e.g., Gautier in Le Moniteur Universel, August 30, 1858; tr. Storey, Pierrots on the stage, p. 59.
  16. ^ For a gallery of these photographs, see "Pierrots". Google Images.
  17. ^ Many reviewers of his pantomimes make note of this tendency: see, e.g., Gautier, Le Moniteur Universel, October 15, 1855; July 28, 1856; August 30, 1858; tr. Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 66–68.
  18. ^ Champfleury, p. 6.
  19. ^ On the Folies-Nouvelles, Legrand's pantomime, and Champfleury's relationship to both, see Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 36–73.
  20. ^ Séverin, p. 47.
  21. ^ Séverin, p. 179.
  22. ^ Wague, pp. 8–11, 17; Rémy, George Wague, p. 27.
  23. ^ See Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 284–294.
  24. ^ See Cosdon, p.49.
  25. ^ For posters by Willette, Chéret, and many other late nineteenth-century artists, see Maindron.
  26. ^ For a full discussion of Verlaine's many versions of Pierrot, see Storey, Pierrots on the stage, pp. 230–52.
  27. ^ Deutsch 1966, p. 213. The score, which is fragmentary, exists as K. 446.
  28. ^ Debussy may have added the operetta Mon ami Pierrot (1862) by Léo Delibes, whom he admired, to this list. He probably would have excluded Jacques Offenbach's Pierrot Clown, a theater score of 1855.
  29. ^ Dobson, Austin (1913). "After Watteau". Collected Poems (9th ed.). New York: E.P. Dutton & Company. p. 476. Retrieved 2016-07-01 – via Internet Archive. Poem first published in December 1893 number of Harper's Magazine.
  30. ^ Symons, Arthur (1896). "Pierrot in Half-Mourning". Silhouettes; and, London nights (2nd ed.). London: Leonard Smithers. p. 90. Retrieved 2016-07-01 – via Internet Archive.
  31. ^ Custance, Olive (1897). "Pierrot". The Yellow Book, An Illustrated Quarterly. Vol. XIII. p. 121. Retrieved 2016-07-01 – via Internet Archive.
  32. ^ http://www.prom-prom.com/tony-lidington/radio/pierrot-hero-clifford-essex/ "Pierrot Hero: The Memoirs of Clifford Essex."
  33. ^ See Calvert, Pertwee.
  34. ^ Martin Shaw, How We Met—Edward Gordon Craig and Martin Shaw.
  35. ^ Vilain, pp. 69, 77, 79.
  36. ^ Toepfer, "Germanic Pantomime: Pierrot in Vienna", n.p. (pp. 731–32, 742–44 in PDF download)
  37. ^ Sansone, n.p.
  38. ^ Storey, Pierrots on the stage, p. 286.
  39. ^ Peral Vega 2015, p. 18
  40. ^ "For a Jest's Sake" (1894).
  41. ^ See reproductions (in poster form) in Margolin, pp. 110, 111.
  42. ^ Carman's "The Last Room. From the Departure of Pierrot" appeared originally in the August 1899 number of Harper's; it is reprinted (as "The Last Room") in "Ballads and Lyrics". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  43. ^ It also contains a short tale of Pierrot by Paul Leclercq, "A Story in White".
  44. ^ Merrill, p. vii.
  45. ^ "Mr. Sargent's Pupils Again", New York Times, February 16, 1894.
  46. ^ "Pierrot at Berkeley Lyceum", New York Times, December 8, 1893.
  47. ^ "Posies out of rings, and other conceits". archive.org. 1896. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  48. ^ All collected in Muñoz Fernández.
  49. ^ Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1921). Aria da capo, a play in one act. New York: Mitchell Kennerley. ISBN 978-1-44006-330-5. Retrieved 2016-04-17 – via Internet Archive.
  50. ^ "Behind a Watteau picture; a fantasy in verse, in one act". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  51. ^ "The Drama magazine". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  52. ^ "The maker of dreams; a fantasy in one act". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  53. ^ "The only legend : a masque of the Scarlet Pierrot". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  54. ^ "Prunella, or, Love in a Dutch garden". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  55. ^ "The Egoist". library.brown.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  56. ^ "Others". library.brown.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  57. ^ "Catholic Anthology". library.brown.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  58. ^ "Earth Deities, and Other Rhythmic Masques". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  59. ^ "Deburau, a comedy". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  60. ^ Clayton 1993, p. 137.
  61. ^ Charlie Chaplin remarked in his My Autobiography that his Little Tramp was "a sort of Pierrot": Chaplin 1966, p. 224.
  62. ^ "Interpretations, a book of first poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  63. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  64. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  65. ^ "Advice; a book of poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  66. ^ "The shoes that danced, and other poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  67. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03. Poem first published in April 1916 number of Scribner's Magazine.
  68. ^ "Verse". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  69. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03. Poem first published in February 1913 number of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.
  70. ^ "The Earth Cry: And Other Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-21. Poem first published in February 1902 number of The Smart Set.
  71. ^ "The joy o' life, and other poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25. Poem first published in February 1906 number of Harper's Magazine.
  72. ^ "The Dreamers: And Other Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-21. Poem first published in December 1910 number of The Smart Set.
  73. ^ "The Dreamers: And Other Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25. Poem first published in June 1911 number of Scribner's Magazine.
  74. ^ "The Dreamers: And Other Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25. Poem first published in January 1913 number of The Smart Set.
  75. ^ "Loves and Losses of Pierrot". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  76. ^ a b Hughes' "A Black Pierrot" was set to voice and piano by William Grant Still as part of Still's Songs of Separation (1945); Hughes' "Pierrot" was set to voice and piano by Howard Swanson in 1950. Hughes' "Heart" was set to voice and piano (as "Pierrot [Heart]") by Michael Schachter in 2011.
  77. ^ "Asphalt: And Other Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  78. ^ "Poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  79. ^ "Men, Women and Ghosts". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  80. ^ "Toward the gulf". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  81. ^ A variant of the poem is entitled "To a Pierrette with Her Arm Around a Brass Vase as Tall as herself." It appears in an appendix in Moore, pp. 401–402.
  82. ^ "Helen of Troy: and other poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  83. ^ a b Teasdale's "Pierrot" was set to voice and piano by Jesse Johnston (1911), Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1912), Josephine McGill (1912), Walter Meyrowitz (1912), Helen Livingstone (1913), Ernst R. Kroeger (1914), Harold Vincent Milligan (1917), Mark Andrews (1919; also a version for chorus and piano, 1929), Jessie L. Gaynor (1919), Wintter Watts (1919), Dagmar de Corval Rybner (1921), Homer Samuels (1922), Gardner Read (1943), and Robert F. Baksa (2002; #4 of Teasdale Songs entitled "Portrait of Pierrot"). As "Pierrot Stands in the Garden", it was set to voice and piano by Eugene M. Bonner in 1914; and as the opening song of the cycle First Person Feminine, it was set to chorus and piano by Seymour Barab in 1970.
  84. ^ Teasdale, Sara (1926). "Pierrot's Song". Rivers to the Sea. New York: Macmillan Company. p. 95. Retrieved 2016-07-03 – via Internet Archive.
  85. ^ Teasdale, Sara (1926). "The Rose". Rivers to the Sea. New York: Macmillan Company. p. 92. Retrieved 2016-07-03 – via Internet Archive.
  86. ^ "Songs of Armageddon, and other poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  87. ^ "The factories, with other lyrics". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  88. ^ Section-heading under which are grouped several poems about Pierrot in Christie's Poems (1925).
  89. ^ Drinkwater, John (1919). Poems, 1908–1919. Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 108–109. Retrieved 2016-04-25 – via Internet Archive.
  90. ^ "Others". library.brown.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  91. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03. Poem first published in August 1901 number of The Smart Set.
  92. ^ "Mon Ami Pierrot: Songs and Fantasies". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03. Poem first published in December 1901 number of The Smart Set.
  93. ^ "Ballads and Lyrics". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  94. ^ "Pierrot wounded, and other poems". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  95. ^ Baring, Maurice (1909). Orpheus in Mayfair, and other stories and sketches. University of California Libraries. London : Mills & Boon.
  96. ^ See Palacio, pp. 40–50, for a discussion of the relationship between Lulu, "la Clownesse androgyne" of both Champsaur and Wedekind, and Pierrot.
  97. ^ "Mon ami Pierrot; conte bleu [par] Gyp". archive.org. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  98. ^ Annette Froehlich, ed. (2022). Outer space and popular culture : influences and interrelations. Part 2. Cham. 1-17. ISBN 978-3-030-91786-9. OCLC 1298512813.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  99. ^ Joan Acocella, "Mad Scene," The New Yorker, 27 June 2016, p. 66.
  100. ^ Condensed and slightly altered excerpt from Toepfer, "Pantomime in Cold War Eastern Europe: Czechoslovakian Pantomime", n.p. (p. 1026 in PDF download).
  101. ^ Toepfer, "The Postwar Mime Culture: Marcel Marceau", n.p. (p. 995 in PDF download).
  102. ^ Rye, Renny (1991-03-03), The Affair at the Victory Ball, Poirot, retrieved 2022-12-17
  103. ^ Christie, Agatha (1923). The Affair at the Victory Ball (short story) (1st ed.). England: The Sketch (published March 7, 1923). pp. 1–24. ISBN 9781519484338.
  104. ^ See, e.g., Bordet.
  105. ^ "Pierrot Lunaire (Character)". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  106. ^ Pierrot Lunaire Albums.
  107. ^ Wilentz, pp. 161–63.
  108. ^ "Puddles the Clown and Postmodern Jukebox Cover Blink-182's "All The Small Things"". Nerdist. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  109. ^ Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The Complete David Bowie (revised and updated ed.). London: Titan Books. pp. 397–401. ISBN 978-1-78565-365-0.
  110. ^ Ian Dixon; Brendan Black, eds. (2022). I'm not a film star : David Bowie as actor. New York. ISBN 978-1-5013-6865-3. OCLC 1303569537.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  111. ^ Thomas M. Kitts; Nicolas Baxter-Moore, eds. (2019). The Routledge companion to popular music and humor. New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-351-26664-2. OCLC 1079400777.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  112. ^ [[♪]] Berryz Koubou – Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba, PROJECThello.com, retrieved 2 September 2013

Works cited

[edit]
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