The Circus
Suzanne Valadon (attributed)
The attribution of this painting to Suzanne Valadon has been rejected by several authorities. Others support the attribution, arguing that the painting is merely atypical because it is an early work, signed and dated 1889. Valadon did not begin to develop her mature style until 1891.She was the mother of artist Maurice Utrillo and a prolific painter herself, although she never received any formal artistic training.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- 1889
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- unframed: height 0.488 m, width 0.6 m
- Origin
- France, 19th century
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Circus/Carnival Visual · 99%
The image clearly depicts a circus arena beneath a tented roof, with performers and an audience.
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Crowds Visual · 99%
Spectators densely occupy the foreground and the tiered seating surrounding the performance ring.
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Performing Arts Visual · 98%
The central ring contains staged performers and acts presented before an audience.
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Animals Visual · 96%
Horses and additional animal figures are visible within the circus ring.
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Equestrian Visual · 98%
A mounted performer on horseback is prominently shown near the center-left of the ring.
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Movement Visual · 90%
The active poses of the riders, performers, and animals communicate staged physical motion.
Visual Qualities
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Dense Composition Visual · 96%
Overlapping figures, multiple audience tiers, structural poles, and the broad arena produce a visually crowded arrangement.
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Earth Tones Visual · 90%
The scene is dominated by ochres, browns, muted greens, and reds characteristic of an earth-toned palette.
Medium and Techniques
-
Painting Both · 99%
The work is visibly a painting, and the museum classifies it as Painting.
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The museum specifies the medium as oil on fabric.
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Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 90%
Broad, broken, visibly articulated strokes are apparent in the crowd, tent structure, arena, and performers.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The museum dates the work to 1889, placing it within nineteenth-century art.
Source & rights
Suzanne Valadon (French, 1865–1938). The Circus. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 6,206 × 5,028 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available