Marcel Marceau The Last Court Bip Clown Circus Charlie Chaplin Pantomime

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Marceau, Marcel (1923 in Strasbourg - 2007 in Paris):

"The Last Judgment" original lithograph ca.42x48cm (representation/image size) on laid paper (46x53) signed in pencil "Marcel Marceau" below the representation and numbered "29/200" Sheet number 8 out the rare cassette "BIP Dreams" with a 4-page text sheet and 8 hand-printed lithographs; Bernried 1968

Marcel Marceau grew up in Strasbourg with the surname Mangel as the son of a Jewish butcher. His father was arrested by the Gestapo and murdered in Auschwitz. Even as a young man, he attracted attention because he spoke little and preferred to express his impressions and ideas through facial expressions and gestures. The great silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton aroused his interest in the theater early on, so that he could make the "Art of Silence" (L'Art du Silence) his profession. However, attending drama school was interrupted by the turmoil of World War II. World War initially delayed. In 1942 he joined the French resistance movement in Limoges and later fought as a member of the French army against the German occupiers. During this period he changed his name to Marceau and kept it as a memorial after the war. The experience of war taught him important traits of pantomime: life in hiding, the enforced silence, the fear of giving oneself away. Marceau probably played his original scene as early as 1944, when he was picked up by the Gestapo in the Paris subway. As a wanted Jewish resistance fighter with false papers, he suppressed his fear and played the role of the harmless civilian. Here he recognized the value of physical self-control. In 1946 he began his training at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater in Paris. His teachers were Charles Dullin and Etienne Decroux, who was also a teacher of Jean-Louis Barrault. On stage alongside Barrault he played "Harlequin" in the pantomime Baptiste based on the film "Children of Olympus". The positive criticism encouraged him to perform his own mimo dramas. In 1947, at the age of 24, Marceau made his first appearance in Paris as "Monsieur Bip". In this clown role, which made him world famous, he toured the world for over 40 years. The Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau, which he founded, was unique in the world and performed numerous well-known plays as mimodramas, including Gogol's The Coat and Tirsa de Molina's Don Juan. He finally made his international breakthrough in Germany. In 1951 he planned a four-day guest performance in Berlin, but ended up staying for two months. Bertolt Brecht and the critic Friedrich Luft also came to his performances, who wrote afterwards "Marceau makes a new art, you have to see that." The same thing happened to him in 1955 on his first American tour. A two-week guest performance turned into a successful six-month tour between Broadway and Hollywood. During this time he also met his idols Charles Laughton, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and the Marx Brothers personally. He met his greatest role model, Charlie Chaplin, in 1967 at Paris Orly Airport. Since the 1960s he has also been known for his solo appearances on television. In addition to his tours and television appearances, Marceau also took care of the offspring. In 1978, with the help of the then Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, he founded the small acting school Ecole International de Mimodrame de Paris, Marcel Marceau, where not only pantomime but also classical dance, fencing and acting was trained. With the best graduates he formed a new company in 1993, the Nouvelle Compagnie de Mimodrame. Marceau was also successful as a painter and draftsman. His works have been shown in Germany, France, Japan and the USA, among other places. He has also written several books, including The Story of Bip and Pimporello, the story of an old street mime and his affection for a little feral girl, an homage to Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.

 100% original of the time. No reprint.

Guaranteed original print of high quality. No reprint, no facsimile. 

Any questions? Do not hesitate to contact us by mail or telephone.

Any questions? Don't hesitate to contact us by mail or phone.