Jump to content

Le Grand Cirque (1956 painting)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]
  • Bern, Kunsthalle, Marc Chagall, Oeuvres de 1950 à 1956, 1956, no. 46
  • Basel, Kunsthalle, Oeuvres des 25 dernières années, 1956, no. 61
  • Paris, Galerie Maeght, Marc Chagall, 1957, no. 5
  • Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts & Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, L'oeuvre des dernières années, 1956-57, no. 147
  • Hamburg, Kunstverein im Hamburg; Munich, Haus der Kunst & Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Marc Chagall, 1959, no. 166, illustrated in the catalogue
  • Paris, Musée des arts décoratifs, Exposition Marc Chagall, 1959, no. 174
  • South Bend, Indiana, University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, 1965
  • Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, Hommage à Marc Chagall, 1967, no. 46, illustrated in the catalogue
  • Zürich, Kunsthaus (on loan)
  • Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Chagall in Israel, 2002-03[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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.