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Parade de cirque

Georges Seurat French

1887–1888

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 825

Par sa maîtrise du pointillisme, Seurat confère un caractère intemporel et mystérieux à cette parade du cirque Corvi, à Paris. Sur une scène à balustrade, éclairée par la lumière diffuse de neuf becs de gaz scintillants, le maître de piste (à droite) et des musiciens (à gauche) tentent de séduire les spectateurs potentiels, dont les chapeaux hétéroclites ponctuent le premier plan d’une note rythmique et humoristique. L’artiste commença le travail en 1887 par des esquisses du cirque ambulant de Fernand Corvi, installé alors dans un quartier ouvrier de Paris. Il élabora ensuite la composition au fil de quelques études préparatoires. Parade de cirque est l’une des six grandes compositions picturales de la brève carrière de Seurat. C’est aussi son premier tableau nocturne et le premier qui soit consacré aux divertissements populaires.

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Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris), Oil on canvas

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 1. The Corvi Circus at the Gingerbread Fair, cours de Vincennes, Paris, 1906. Postcard. Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseilles

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 2. Georges Seurat, "The Tree," 1887–88. Conté crayon on paper, 11 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (30 x 24 cm). Private collection

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 3. Georges Seurat, "Trombonist," 1887–88. Conté crayon with white chalk on paper, 12 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (31.1. x 23.8 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, 1986

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 4. Georges Seurat, "Ferdinand Corvi and Pony," 1887–88. Conté crayon on paper, 11 5/8 x 8 5/8 in. (29.5 x 22 cm). Private collection

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 5. Georges Seurat, "Study for 'Circus Sideshow',” 1887–88. Ink squared in graphite on paper, 4 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (12.5 x 19 cm). Menard Art Museum, Aichi, Japan

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Fig. 6. Georges Seurat, "Study for 'Circus Sideshow',” 1887–88. Oil on wood, 6 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. (16.5 x 26 cm). Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich

Fig. 7. "Circus Sideshow" with a diagram of Seurat's compositional grid

Fig. 8. Detail of "Circus Sideshow" (central area), macro-X-ray fluorescence map of calcium distribution, showing the chalk lines of the compositional grid and some underdrawing

Fig. 9. (right) Detail of "Circus Sideshow" (bottom right corner). (left) Macro-X-ray fluorescence map of cobalt and nickel distribution, same area, showing initial large dots of cobalt blue with no detectable cobalt (in red) and subsequent small dots of cobalt blue rich in nickel (in pink)

Titre: Parade de cirque

Artiste: Georges Seurat, Français, 1859–1891

Date: 1887–1888

Technique: Huile sur toile

Dimensions: 99,7 x 149,9 cm

Crédits: Legs de Stephen C. Clark, 1960

Accession Number: 61.101.17

Two circus monkeys appear on stage balancing atop balls, each adorned with a mauve-colored star.

How Can Art Trick Our Minds?

Instead of mixing paint colors on a palette, what happens if we let our eyes do the mixing? Learn about Pointillism and how the artist Georges Seurat used the science of optics to create a whole new way of painting!

An illustrated brain character waves a magic wand over an open sketchbook page featuring an illustrated rainbow painted with many colorful dots.

How to Make An Optical Illusion

Trick your friends with this optical illusion! Create an entire rainbow using only the primary colors — red, yellow, and blue dots.

George Seurat painting depicting a French parade, or circus sideshow

Following the Trail of (Ginger)bread Crumbs: Seurat, the Corvi Circus, and the Gingerbread Fair

Research Assistant Laura D. Corey traces the history of the Corvi Circus around the time that Georges Seurat painted his evocative depiction of the traveling troupe, Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque).

Side Notes on the Sideshow

Associate Museum Librarian for Interlibrary Services and Digital Initiatives Robyn Fleming highlights some of the books that appear in the exhibition Seurat's Circus Sideshow.

The class working on their artworks

Explore and Make Art at The Met

Emily Sutter, coordinator for Digital Learning, discovers what happens in one of the exciting Children's Classes at The Met.

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The New Nineteenth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture Galleries

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

Seurat's Circus Sideshow

Seurat's Circus Sideshow

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French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

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