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Drawing on paper. Signed lower right: “A Born 86”. Painter, illustrator, graphic artist, cartoonist and costume designer Adolf Born was famed for his inimitable style and work that combined his unique sense of humor with details drawn from the artist's limitless imagination. This work is no different. Peering out with a bit of foreboding, the harlequin may refer to the Italian servant, the jester laughing at the entire world, and to Dante's Divine Comedy. A mythical unicorn, traditionally symbolizing purity, strength and beauty, is in Born's rendition a strange creature with its tongue protruding and its heart stabbed onto its magical horn. In a single moment, Born masterfully forces us to smile and think of the many stories playing out in this single drawing.