Skating humor – Alexander Ver Huell, 1848

“Twee manieren om een aardig gezicht over het ijs te hebben |  Een heer die op klaarlichten dag sterren ziet… |  Vooruitgang.” [Two ways of making a funny face on the ice | A gentleman who sees stars in broad daylight… | Progress], lithograph by Alexander Ver Huell for “Op het IJs“, published in 1848. Size approx. 17 × 24 cm.

This humorous print shows four comic scenes on the ice, in which skaters end up in the most awkward and painful positions. At the top left we see an unfortunate gentleman who has broken through the ice, staring up in panic as if begging for help. At the top right another skater lies flat on his stomach, while his hat slides on ahead of him. At the bottom left a young man tumbles spectacularly backward, losing his hat in the fall. On the bottom right “progress” is ridiculed: an entire row of skaters crashes onto each other in a comical pile-up.

The lithograph is a fine example of Alexander Ver Huell’s (1822–1897) playful drawing style, in which he depicted the follies of everyday life with gentle irony. His humor lay in the exaggeration of human frailty and the contrast between dignity and clumsiness. The “funny face” one acquires on the ice turns out here to be painful—yet amusing for the onlooker.

In the second half of the 19th century such caricatural scenes were highly popular. They reflected a widespread appetite for lighthearted entertainment and were often published as loose sheets or in small albums, allowing prints to be either framed individually or leafed through at leisure. Audiences recognized themselves in these situations and laughed at the mishaps that came with winter pastimes. Ver Huell thus placed himself in the tradition of the bourgeois caricature: not sharply satirical, but kindly mocking, focused on recognizable scenes that aroused laughter.

Price: Euro 175,-