.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
At the end of the 1880s, the Cirque Fernando in Montmartre was among Lautrec's favorite subjects. He made a half-dozen paintings and a number of drawings depicting the acts there; and he was especially fascinated by a horse-riding trick in which the equestrienne would leap from her horse through a paper-filled hoop held by a clown and then land on the back of the horse. This motif was the subject of his principle work of the period, a monumental painting, partially recorded in photographs, that the artist never completed and is now lost. It was also the subject of Au Cirque: "Clown" (Dortu, P. 314), Au Cirque: cuyre (Dortu, P. 316) and Au Cirque Fernando: l' cuyre (Art Institute of Chicago).
Suzanne Valadon, who had been a circus rider before becoming a model and artist, posed as the equestrienne for Toulouse-Lautrec. The red hair and sharp jaw of the woman in the present work are identical with her features in Lautrec's other versions of the subject. The master of ceremonies at the Cirque Fernando was a famous character named Mr. Loyal; he is seen here near the center of the ring, accompanied by another man in a waistcoat. At the right is a clown with an elephant depicted on the seat of his pants. A clown in similar costume appears in Au Cirque: dans les coulisses (Dortu, P. 321).
The present picture is in the shape of a fan, a form that had become popular in Paris under the influence of japonisme. The playfulness of the object is further endorsed by the fact that the artist signed the work, "Treclau," a fun inversion of the syllables of his name.
Suzanne Valadon, who had been a circus rider before becoming a model and artist, posed as the equestrienne for Toulouse-Lautrec. The red hair and sharp jaw of the woman in the present work are identical with her features in Lautrec's other versions of the subject. The master of ceremonies at the Cirque Fernando was a famous character named Mr. Loyal; he is seen here near the center of the ring, accompanied by another man in a waistcoat. At the right is a clown with an elephant depicted on the seat of his pants. A clown in similar costume appears in Au Cirque: dans les coulisses (Dortu, P. 321).
The present picture is in the shape of a fan, a form that had become popular in Paris under the influence of japonisme. The playfulness of the object is further endorsed by the fact that the artist signed the work, "Treclau," a fun inversion of the syllables of his name.