Stanczyk or the Sad Clown Paradox
Listen to the Story: 7 minutes
Audio-only: (best on mobile)
Description:
Jan Matejko’s 1862 Stańczyk is very emotionally charged. It’s a pretty simple scene: A sad jester, alone in a dark room. Why is he sad? Can a jester, or a clown, be sad, knowing that their job is to spread happiness? In this video, we’ll be talking about this painting, its historical context, the Sad Clown paradox, Edward Hopper’s Soir Bleu, Todd Phillips’ Joker…
