The Circus

The Circus (French: Le Cirque) is an oil on canvas painting by Georges Seurat. It was his last painting, made in a Neo-Impressionist style in 1890-91, and remained unfinished at his death in March 1891. The painting was Seurat's third major work treating the theme of the circus, after his Parade (Circus sideshow) of 1887-88 and Le Chahut of 1889-90. It depicts a female performer standing on a horse at the Circus Fernando (Renamed the Médrano in 1890). The Circus Médrano was located at the corner of the Rue des Martyrs and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, close to Seurat's studio. It was a popular entertainment in Paris, depicted in the 1880s by other artists such as Renoir, Fernando, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec.