Caricature
Hlaváček tended to stylize his portraits of human faces, including his own, as masks or various forms of caricatures. In some works, inspired by Félix Vallotton, he minimized the number of strokes used to draw the image and emphasized its planar attributes. Thus, like a domino mask, the portrait both hides something and invites the observer into the subject’s inner realm through the emphasis placed on particular features. This ambiguity underscores the enigmatic nature of the artist’s personality: the psychological characteristics that co-create their public image and that he or she himself “unveils”, for example in autobiographical writings, interviews, or correspondence, can be both true and misleading.
| Author: | Hlaváček, Karel |
| Title: | Caricature |
| Date: | 1896–1897 |
| Technique: | ink and pencil drawing on paper |
| Dimensions: | 30.6 × 20.6 cm |
| Origin: | Karel Hlaváček fonds |
| Licence: | Free license |