About the Artwork
Depicted here is a scene from the ballet Papa Chrysantheme performed in 1892 at the Nouveau Cirque in Paris, an establishment renowned for its modern fixtures such as electrical lighting and mechanically operated scenery. For this ballet the central area of the Nouveau Cirque was flooded to produce a lake filled with artificial lotus leaves. The figures in the foreground are dancers dressed in Japanese costumes. Lautrec was among the most innovative draftsmen of the 19th century. His work-whether executed with a brush, pen, crayon, or pencil is characterized by vibrant lines that convey the essence of a subject with the deftest of means.
At the Circus
1899
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec
1864-1901
French
Unknown
Crayon, pastel, and watercolor on wove paper
Sheet: 9 7/8 × 14 inches (25.1 × 35.6 cm) Framed: 24 1/2 × 20 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches (62.2 × 52.1 × 8.9 cm)
Drawings
Prints, Drawings & Photographs
Bequest of Robert H. Tannahill
70.297.A
Copyright not assessed, please contact [email protected].
Markings
Signed, in black crayon, lower left: [artist's monogram]
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Marks, lower right corner: [traces of artist's monogram]
Provenance
Maurice Joyant
Mme. Dortu
Jacques Seligman
1944, Robert H. Tannahill [1893-1969] (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA)
1970-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Figaro Artistique (April 1902): p. 13 (ill.).
Joyant, Maurice. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris, 1927, p. 239.
Jaccomet, Daniel. Toulouse-Lautrec au cirque, 17 dessins, 1932, no. 13 (as: Ballet-Fantaisie Nautique et Japonaise).
Frankfurter, Alfred. "Master Drawings of Five Centuries." Art News, November 1938 (ill.) "Souvenir de Papa Chrysanthème, at the Nouveau Cirque, November 1892."
"Family Art Game," DIA Advertising Supplement. Detroit Free Press. April 26, 1981, p. 15 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Circus, 1899, crayon, pastel, and watercolor on wove paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Robert H. Tannahill, 70.297.A.
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