Jeff Thomsen: Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester)

Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester), oil on linen painting by Cerulean Arts Collective Member Jeff Thomsen.  Included in his solo exhibition January 15 - February 9, 2025.  Size:  24" H x 30" W; Frame: 25.25" H x 31.25" W 

This painting is one in series of five paintings based on the five-movement piano suite Miroirs by Maurice Ravel. 

Ravel chose a rather obscure title for this movement and one certainly not French. Alborada del gracioso has been variously interpreted as meaning Morning Song of the Jester—or Clown—or Fool. Regardless, Alborada is the liveliest of the five movements, Spanish in flavor where the piano seemingly conjures up sounds of strumming guitars and clicking castanets. Ravel’s mother was Basque, he himself was born in a Basque town, and he is best known for his Bolero. Thus, I could not avoid sense of “Spanish” atmosphere. Also, I felt that my painting of the movement definitely required a human presence, in this case with me being the Jester or Fool. The music’s lively first and concluding statements bookend a somewhat melancholic and wistful inner section. That music suggests to me the Jester’s true being, and thus I saw the Jester as a lovesick, forlorn figure suggested more by the paintings of Watteau, an artist Ravel admired. For example, Watteau’s sad sack Mézzetin in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or his splendid portrayal of Pierrot in the Louvre. Certainly not a Rigoletto, this Jester. Alborada is apparently the most difficult movement for a pianist to master, though the others are obviously no picnic either. However, for me, when the music is played at its best, it is not simply a dazzling showcase of the pianist’s virtuosity. Rather, the music should con jure images of the Jester’s pathetic and fruitless eruption of activity and his underlying and quiet sense of longing. That is what I hoped to show, at least in part, with my painting.                                                                                                                                                                               Jeff Thomsen

Note: Painting will be available for pickup or shipment after the end of exhibition.

To view additional work by Jeff, visit his webpage:  Jeff Thomsen