About this artwork
Seurat painted The Circus in 1890 and 1891, in his studio in Paris. He was 31, and this was his last painting. He died in March 1891, a few days after the painting was first exhibited, and he left it unfinished. The lower right corner is incomplete, with the dots of color thinning out and the bare canvas visible in places.
A circus performance is in progress. An acrobat stands on a horse at the center of the painting, her body arched backward, her arms extended. The horse runs around the ring, and a ringmaster in a red coat stands at the left, holding a whip. The audience is visible at the upper right, a row of faces in the stands. The entire painting is built in dots of pure color, with the circus ring rendered in yellows and oranges, the acrobat in white and blue, and the audience in dark dots of brown and grey.
The Circus is the third of Seurat's three major scenes of Parisian entertainment, following La Grande Jatte and the Chahut. All three paintings are large, carefully composed, and built entirely in dots of color. Seurat was interested in the way color theory could be applied to painting, and he used the circus subject to explore the effects of warm and cool colors placed side by side. The painting is dominated by warm colors, with the yellow ring and the red coat of the ringmaster creating a sense of heat and movement.
Seurat was born in Paris in 1859 and died there in 1891. He produced about 50 paintings in his 31 years, working with extraordinary patience and precision. He invented Pointillism, the technique of building a painting from small dots of pure color, and he was the leader of the Neo-Impressionist group. His influence on later painting was enormous: his systematic approach to color influenced both the Cubists and the abstract painters of the 20th century.
Oil on canvas, 185 by 152 centimeters, roughly 73 by 60 inches. Seurat painted with tiny dots of color, each one placed with precision. The surface is smooth from a distance but up close it is a field of small colored circles. The unfinished lower right corner shows the process: the dots are sparse, the canvas is visible between them, and the forms are only suggested.
The vertical format and dynamic subject make this print work well in a living room, hallway, or office with modern furniture. The warm colors and circus subject suit a room with neutral walls. A white frame keeps the painting's bright palette clear. The 16x20 or 18x24 size gives the dots and the acrobat enough detail to appreciate up close.
The painting is in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
This is a public domain artwork. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.
