The Circus,
a factory of Modern Art
From 16 October
to 14 February
Musée de Montmartre
12 rue Cortot, 75018 Paris
The Musée de Montmartre pays tribute to the circus as an exceptional artistic and popular heritage, revealing through this exhibition how an essential part of modern art was forged beneath the big tops of the Butte.
The circus and the artists’ imagination
In Montmartre, the circus was far more than entertainment: for nearly a century, it fuelled artists’ imaginations and played a part in the emergence of modern art.
It is no coincidence that Degas, Seurat, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Laurencin, Chagall, Rouault, Léger and many others gathered at the Cirque Fernando, later renamed the Cirque Medrano.
The circus as a space
for artistic experimentation
Balancing bodies, plays of light and vibrant colours: the circus offered an unprecedented spectacle of movement, rhythm and transformation, making it an unrivalled field for experimentation.
Through a selection of major works, the exhibition ‘The Circus, a factory of Modern Art’ reveals how the ring became a true creative laboratory and profoundly transformed the avant-garde vision.
Affiche de l’exposition
Curators
Pascal Jacob, Marika Maymard, Gérard Borg and Jeanne-Yvonne Borg, collectors and specialists in circus arts
Coordinated by Alice S. Legé, PhD in art history and Head of Collections at the Musée de Montmartre
