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Laughing Couple
Laughing Couple
Laughing Couple

Laughing Couple

Artist Charles Keller 1914 - 2006
Date1937
Mediumlithograph on paper
Dimensionsimage: 10 × 7 1/2 in. (25.4 × 19.1 cm)
sheet: 14 1/4 × 11 1/4 in. (36.2 × 28.6 cm)
mat, closed: 23 3/4 × 19 3/4 × 1/4 in. (60.3 × 50.2 × 0.6 cm)
ClassificationsPrints & Printmaking
Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Margaret Randall
Object numberPC2019.71.15
DescriptionA print of an elderly couple laughing together. The woman at left rests her hands on her belly while the man wraps his right hand around her shoulders. His left hand and index finger are raised above his head in an expressive gesture.
On View
Not on view
Text Entries

Ingenio, humor y sátira

25 Junio 2022 – 29 Enero 2023


El grabado, Laughing Couple de Charles Keller utiliza la caricatura —la exageración de los rasgos físicos— como técnica para acentuar el humor. Aparte del hecho de que muestra a la pareja riéndose, una pose poco habitual para un retrato, sus siluetas y rasgos faciales están exagerados para darle a la imagen otra connotación. La pareja parece anciana, pero no por eso deja de disfrutar. Podemos ver ejemplos de algunas de las primeras caricaturas en obras de Leonardo da Vinci, quien probablemente no pretendiera dibujar personas reales, sino más bien ilustrar tipos de personas.

Exhibition: Wit, Humor, & Satire

on view June 25, 2022 - January 29, 2023


Charles Keller’s print, Laughing Couple, utilizes caricature – the exaggeration of bodily features – as a humor amplifying technique. Apart from the fact that the couple pictured is laughing, an uncommon pose for a portrait, their body types and facial features are exaggerated to achieve another layer of meaning. The couple may be older but they are still enjoying themselves. Early examples of caricature come from Leonardo da Vinci who was likely not drawing actual figures, but depicting types of people.