Clown Paintings

Clown Paintings is a twisty little illustrated book that showcases 65 outrageous and compelling clown portraits, painted by amateurs and selected by actor-director Diane Keaton. By turns hilarious and heartfelt, joyful and mortifying, these artworks were collected over the years by Keaton, who found herself as mesmerized by their mute eloquence as she was by their bad taste. It’s easy to see what drew Keaton to them. They embody contradiction; they’re fabulous and horrible, hysterical and dignified, generic yet absolutely specific. And above all—in the grand clown tradition—way out there. The clowns, from whom we expect mischievous, out-of-control behavior, are painted as solemn and decorous subjects to contemplate. Instead of distracting us with brooms, squawking horns, rubber mallets, and slapstick humor, we get the chance to look at them carefully—and to consider how they not only make us laugh, but how they allow us to look more closely at ourselves. And to contemplate the abyss.