The female circus horse-rider is a recurring subject in Chagall’s work. In 1926 the art dealer Ambroise Vollard invited Chagall to make a project based on the circus. They visited Paris’s historic Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione
together; Vollard lent Chagall his private box seats. Chagall completed the 19 gouaches known as The Vollard Circus in 1927. Our gouache was made during a five-year period from 1949–53. The artist’s return to France
from America in 1948 represented an emotional journey back to his adopted home country following the Nazi occupation. In 1949 Chagall relocated temporarily to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the Côte d'Azur, but by 1950
had moved to Les Collines, an estate that became his permanent home in nearby Saint-Paul-de-Vence. It was around this time that gouache became a preferred medium for the artist, who focused on rich blues as a response
to the beautiful sunlight in the south of France.
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