Marc CHAGALL (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul-de-Vence,... Lot n° 22
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THE CIRCUS About 1957
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right with the stamp of the estate
35 x 24 cm
PROVENANCE A.K. Private Collection, Paris
This red circus, flamboyant, is an ode to joy. The hoop sets the tone. It is the circle, a perfect shape, that dominates the scene. The ring is dazzling with light under the white beams of a myriad of projectors.
The theme of the circus in Chagall's paintings is linked to his experience of the
Winter Circus in Paris. Ambroise Vollard, who had a reserved box there, invited him regularly in 1927. This led to a first cycle of nineteen gouaches.
Thirty years later, Chagall returned there. He attended the shooting of a film which inspired his Grand cirque (1956). He had settled in Vence and it was the luminosity of colour that characterised his palette.
In Les Cyclistes (fig. 1) or L'Écuyère (fig. 2), circular forms prevail, supported by the rows of spectators arranged around the round ring.
A charming figure occupies the lower left-hand corner of our painting.
The one who introduces himself as the rider's lover is sitting with his back straight and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. We see him in the 1956 Circus (fig. 3) and then in a scene dedicated by the painter to his wife
Vava where he is, as here, dressed in checked trousers (fig. 4).
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