"The Martyrdom of St. Beauzeau"
“Red Letter Day for Doswell”; Art Gallery now needed to warehouse curious drawing (click on print for larger version)
A press release sent out by the Dixie Treat Archives announced the acquisition of a very famous old woodcut by a fellow they tell us is celebrated German artist Albrecht Durer.
“The Dixie Treat archives is proud to announce this addition to our collection.” Said Archivist Herthel Wedig, who was fixing to bust with excitement from the stoop of her management office trailer. “Albrecht Durer was a very famous artist who according to Wikipedia lived back in the late 1400s,” she continued, for the benefit of everyone there who had no idea who this Durer fellow was, “and his work commands a very high price on the world market. This is a red-letter day for Doswell.”
The 14” x 20” print was sold to the Dixie Treat Collection for about $500 by an anonymous patron of ther arts who briefly stayed in the area, according to Wedig, who went on to describe the print once the purple velveteen covering was tossed aside, unveiling the odd piece of art to the world, and especially the reporters and gathered dignitaries in attendance.
The print, titled “The Martyrdom of St. Beauzeau”, purportedly shows a clown tied to a tree, holding a pie above his head. He is being shot with suction cup arrows repeatedly by two men. Behind are two other men in clerical robes, one of them the victim of a double-eyeball poke, 3 Stooges-style.
“The print portrays an important and tragic event in the history of clowning,” says Wedig, reading from note cards. “Saint Beauzeau has since been canonized as the patron saint of clowns and clown activity. Its is a true document of the suffering clowns have endured down through the centuries.”
Wedig went on to say she hope Doswell would see the importance of the art, and make plans to build a museum or gallery to hold the ever-growing collection of art, now being kept in a drawer in Herthell’s office in the trailer court.
