Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
The Blue Circus
Alternate Title:
Le cirque bleu
Image View:
Detail, man holding leafy branch
Creator:
Marc Chagall (Belorussian painter, 1887-1985)
Location:
exhibition: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montréal, Québec, Canada)
Location Note:
1380, rue Sherbrooke Ouest; Chagall: Colour and Music (Exhibition, January 28 to June 11, 2017)
GPS:
45.4987-73.5801
Date:
1950 (creation)
Cultural Context:
French
Style Period:
Twentieth century
Work Type 1:
painting (visual work)
Classification:
Paintings
Material:
oil paint on canvas
Technique:
oil painting (technique)
Subjects:
abstraction; animal; human figure; Circus; Musical instruments; folkloric; dreamlike; acrobat; horse; moon; fish; violin; drum; trapeze artist
Description:
Chagall drew inspiration from the theme of the circus throughout his life. As a child in Russia, he had been fascinated by the traveling acrobats he saw at village fairs. After he moved to Paris, Ambroise Vollard regularly accompanied him to the circus, where he would sit in the audience and sketch. The chaotic and colorful atmosphere of the circus captivated Chagall. Here, he saw all aspects of life represented, from the comic to the tragic. He later said, "For me a circus is a magic show that appears and disappears like a world." (Source: Tate Gallery [website]; http://www.tate.org. uk)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
7A1-CHAGALL-TBC-A05
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

The Blue Circus