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The central characters on this month’s cover are taken from a painting completed by Picasso in 1901 which he called ‘The Two Saltimbanques’. The study is of two circus folk who have taken a break from pleasing the crowd and have called in at a local café for refreshment. What I really like about this painting is that it encapsulates the joys and woes of life: just five minutes ago these two entertainers were laughing and joking with their audience and now, during their own leisure time, they are reflecting on their lives and looking thoroughly fed up with their lot. To illustrate the situation, Picasso clothes the pair in garish colours, which implies a sense of fun, but he then balances the study by presenting a aura of melancholy to the work. What he is saying is that man was made for joy AND woe. Being part of a traveling circus family, the father of the Harlequin in the middle was probably a wanderer by trade. His sister, the lady on his left, is great at her job: when she entertains the crowd her pleasure knows no limits, and when she sings her voice is like a meadow lark. But, as you can tell from her general demeanor, her heart is like an ocean: mysterious and dark. The pair are joined by Dylan, who you will remember from the ‘Blood in My Eyes’ promo video, got up from the table and tried his hand at juggling. Perhaps the Harlequin is giving Bob some tips on the art of juggling but the Harlequin’s sister seems to be pointing her thumb at Dylan as if to say to us, the observers: ‘Not in those motor cycle gloves he won’t!’. Whatever the conversation between this unlikely threesome, Dylan is making his intention clear. He is having just one more cup of coffee for the road. One more cup of coffee before he goes. But who is going to pay? |
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