Le clown flûtiste au coq

Chagall summoned the experience of the circus—its clowns, acrobats and young women riding bareback on horses—throughout his entire career, perhaps as a metaphor for the life he decided to lead as an artist. As a young man living in Vitebsk, he would sometimes preform acrobatic stunts in the streets with his wife Bella and their young children in an effort to earn money, a memory that haunted him throughout his life. Almost contradictorily, he adored the spectacle of the circus and all its colorful variety and often felt that the life of an artist was similar to that of a showman. With time, the vision and dream of the circus came to lie at the very heart of his personal mythology. As an artist profoundly affected by nostalgia, haunted by memories of his homeland, and yet filled with love and joy for the world, the circus became the perfect source of inspiration for Chagall. In his own words: "For me a circus is a magic show that appears and disappears like a world. A circus is disturbing. It is profound. These clowns, bareback riders and acrobats have themselves a home in my visions. Why? Why am I so touched by their make-up and their grimaces? With them I can move toward new horizons. Lured by their colors and make-up, I can dream of painting new psychic distortions. It is a magic word, circus, a timeless dancing game where tears and smiles, the play of arms and legs take the form of a great art" (quoted in M. Chagall, Le Cirque, 1967).