From the Vault: Marcel Marceau

Marcel Marceau dreamed of becoming a painter since childhood. He began to paint at the age of seven, and was educated in an art school in Limoges, France. His career as a mime may have taken over, but he did not forget his dream. Marceau’s dual creative outlets compliment one another. He feels his miming carries over into his painting and visa versa. Painting is a medium which enables him to translate the invisible world which Bip deals with in the theatre into a visible world. In fact, his famous character Bip, created for the stage in 1947, has had a major influence on the subject matter of many of Marceau’s watercolors and lithographs. He has also worked in ink, pencil, and tempera paint.

Marceau’s works are expressionistic with a mystical quality. He is influenced greatly by the poet William Blake who also had a mystical style. Marceau prides himself on his use of color, and his palette is comprised mostly of vivid tones of blue, rose, and mauve.