Art Institute of Chicago

At the Circus: The Bareback Rider (Au Cirque: Écuyère)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)

Date

1888

Medium

Oil on vellum

Culture

France

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

One of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s favorite haunts was the Cirque Fernando, also the subject of his large painting, Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) in the collection of the Art Institute. Like many of the artists in his circle, Toulouse-Lautrec experimented with styles and materials beyond easel painting. His decision to paint on a tambourine with little castanets (called a tambour de basque ) was perhaps inspired by the instrument’s association with bohemian life and creative freedom. The shape of the tambourine mirrors that of the paper hoop held by the clown in the larger painting, so that our view here seems to be framed by the hoop just after the bareback rider has broken through it.

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