ACEO Clown #226 "Marcelino"
2 ½” x 3 ½” (6.3 x 8.9 cm)
ACEO Clown #226 is a homage to Marcelino Orbes, a world-renowned Spanish clown ( 1873-1927). Isidro Marcelino Orbés Casanova was born in Jaca, Spain. He performed in Spain, France and other European countries and his success brought him to London Hippodrome. He was one of the superstar clowns of the trans-Atlantic stage, appearing for five years at the Hippodrome in London, from 1900 to 1905, before embarking on a stunning ten-season residency at the New York Hippodrome. By 1915, Marceline had established himself as one of the western world’s most popular comedians. He was also one of the most influential. Chaplin and Buster Keaton admired his work.
Silent movies became popular at the height of his success. Later in 1915, he temporarily retired from show business and opened his first restaurant. It was a disaster. His two attempts to enter the restaurant business drained him financially. Shortly after his wife left him. In 1925, Marcelino ordered what may have been his final costumed image as a means of garnering more attention for his failing act, though it does not appear to have helped. Just two years after that picture was taken he would be found dead in the rundown hotel in which he spent his last days (he had shot himself, surrounded by old pictures of himself in costume.)
