ACEO Clown Portrait #129 "Rámper"

Clown #129 "Rámper" 

acrylic on paper,  

2 ½” x 3 ½” (64 x 89 mm), 2019

ACEO Clown portrait #129 is homage to "Rámper" aka Ramón Álvarez Escudero (1892 -1952)  from Spain.  Rámper was the most famous clown during Second Spanish Republic years (1931-39). His family didn't have the circus tradition, they were a humble family selling coal and he was helping the family since his childhood as photographer, tailor, carpenter... Until he met with Señor Clement, a street performer whom does acrobatics and later on he learnt to do acrobatics by training himself in a gymnasium saloon in Madrid and started in the circus business.  His brother Perico and himself  created a duo and called themselves "Los Rámper" and both started touring all around including Portugal. Unfortunately his brother died while he was training, he fell while jumping very badly breaking his column, he was only 20 years old. 

After this sad event, Rámper continue to perform solo, sometimes talking with a straw puppet which was his wife  Aurina Secades's voice. He was mixing his acrobatics with humor, magic, playing instruments. He was really famous at one point of his life. Think about it, in those years, there is no TV, internet, mobile.... only entertainment were theaters, circus and radio.  His clown face image was used on publicity ads like drink bottles, comics, figurines. He recorded his voice on slate records and also act in a movie called "Frivolinas" (1926) . He also signed a contract for a movie with German director James Bauer but right at that time Spanish Civil war stopped his artistic career. After the war he couldn't recover his fame again. Like many other clowns Rámper died very poor. In his last years of his life he tried to establish his own circus company but he had a very bad luck and he was bankrupt. He died alone in a hotel room in Sevilla in 1952. After his death for many years he was forgotten.  Until Leocadio Mejías wrote a book called " Una vida para la risa y el dolor" dedicated to Rámper in 1957.

"Rámper"

work in progress

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