Le Grand Cirque (1956)
ArtistMarc Chagall
Year1956 (1956)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions159.5 cm × 308.5 cm (62.8 in × 121.5 in)
Ownerprivate collection

Le Grand Cirque is an oil and gouache on canvas painting by Belarusian-French artist Marc Chagall created in 1956.

Description

The canvas features acrobats, trapeze artists and clowns.[1] The subject of circus was dear to the artist.[2] Chagall often returned to the circus as a subject matter in his artworks.[3] He considered clowns, acrobats and actors as tragically human beings who are like characters in certain religious paintings.[4] Among other Post-Impressionist and Modern painters who featured the circus in their works are Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, Kees van Dongen, and Fernand Léger.[4]

Provenance

At least until 1974 Le Grand Cirque was in a property of Gustave Stern Foundation, New York.[5] In 2007 the painting was acquired from the Gustave Stern Foundation and Sold at Sotheby’s, New York for $13.8 million, becoming a part of private collection in Switzerland.[6] In 2017, the painting was sold for $16 million, to an Asian telephone bidder.[1]

Exhibitions

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Pogrebin, Robin; Reyburn, Scott (2017-11-15). "Chagall's Romantic Love Story Leads Sotheby's Impressionist Sale (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  2. ^ GUIVARCH-TONNARD, Aourell (2016-06-23). "Chagall, de la poésie à la peinture, exposé à Landerneau". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  3. ^ Venturi, Lionello (1994). Chagall. Genève: A. Skira. p. 39. ISBN 2-605-00267-5. OCLC 233992792.
  4. ^ a b Chagall : a retrospecitve. Marc Chagall, Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates. [New York]: Hugh Lauter Levin Assoc., Inc. 1995. pp. 196–198. ISBN 0-88363-495-3. OCLC 33471293.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ a b "Marc Chagall, LE GRAND CIRQUE". Sotheby's. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  6. ^ "Will This Rare Marc Chagall Painting Break a 27-Year-Old Auction Record?". Artnet News. 2017-10-04. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
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