03 — ARTWORK
The Circus
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 180 x 148 cm
- TYPE
- Other
PALETTE
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THIS REPRODUCTION
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CURRENT LOCATION · Musée d'Orsay
- FILE
- 900 × 1118 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Although this painting was still not completed at the painter's early death in 1891, Seurat had already exhibited it that year in the SalonIn the French language of the 18th and 19th centuries it designated an actual exhibition space, as well as the academic art exhibitions staged in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre since 1667. From 1737, the exhibitions took place biennially and, after the French Revolution, annually in the Salon Carré of the Louvre in Paris. Towards the end of the 19th century the official Salon jury was dissolved in order to make way for a committee of state-approved artists, i.e. former Salon members, who created the highly influential Société des Artistes Français. des Indépendents. It was intended to bring home clearly the principles of his art that he had developed in the previous ten years and at the same time to emphasize his leading role in modern painting.
The circus was that of the Cirque Fernando, not far from Seurat's studio. To clarify his depiction Seurat left most of the seats empty behind the artiste riding into the arena The work has something of the quality of a poster.
The Cirque Fernando had its pitch on the Boulevard Rochechouart. In 1894 it was redesigned as a theatre. Included among its regular guests were Lautrec, and also Degas, Renoir and Seurat, who decorated the rooms with their paintings.
OTHER WORKS BY GEORGES SEURAT
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r7f8d1a006c3721,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Circus by SEURAT, Georges},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/seurat-georges-rc366798b17778b/the-circus-r7f8d1a006c3721},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.