Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)
Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando)
INV-1614
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)1887–88
Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901) →Post-Impressionismnineteenth century19th centuryoil on canvaspaint
Date
1887–88
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
100.3 × 161.3 cm (39 1/2 × 63 1/2 in.); Framed: 123.2 × 181 × 8.3 cm (48 1/2 × 71 1/4 × 3 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Joseph Winterbotham Collection
This work, set at a circus, captures the tense moment in which a female trick rider prepares to stand up on her horse and leap through a paper hoop held by a clown. The horse gathers speed, spurred on by the whip of famous ringmaster Monsieur Loyal. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec may have based the garishly made-up rider, dressed in a tutu of gauze and sequins, on Suzanne Valadon, a former circus performer, model, and artist with whom he had a nearly three-year relationship. The rider seems to snarl at Monsieur Loyal, who glares back at her. Toulouse-Lautrec’s setting is the same circus in Montmartre depicted in Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s portrait of the Wartenberg sisters.
This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.
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