| Le Grand Cirque (1956) | |
|---|---|
| English: The Big Circus | |
 | |
| Artist | Marc Chagall |
| Year | 1956 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 159.5 cm× 308.5 cm(62.8 in× 121.5 in) |
| Owner | Private Collection |
Le Grand Cirque is an oil and gouache on canvas painting by Belarusian-French artist Marc Chagall created in 1956. it is held in a private collection.
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]
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]
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