Las risas del arte

The humorous dimension of art is an enigmatic and surprising territory, full of intriguing paradoxes: laughter is ephemeral yet coexists with the eternity of the artwork; it can be a sign of joy, but also of suffering; and it finds its place even in the most solemn museums, where humor seems to be proscribed. Carlos Reyero traces the vibrant presence of laughter in Western art—especially painting—from the Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century, inviting us to discover a fascinating interplay of complicity that unites artists and viewers across time. The author shows how laughter can be both a mechanism for social critique and a challenge to power, as well as a reflection of cultural tensions and shifting subjectivities. Using countless artistic examples, he addresses themes such as political satire, parody, carnival and role reversal, pretentiousness and kitsch, and scatological and sexual humor, always highlighting the role of context and the audience's perspective. This book is a thought-provoking contribution to the understanding not only of artistic laughter but also of comedy in general. Furthermore, it is a compelling defense of humor as a fundamental axis of art history, capable of revealing contradictions and complexities of the human experience.