Figures de cirque

Details

Georges Rouault (1871-1958)
Figures de cirque
signed with initials 'GR' (lower right)
gouache, brush and India ink on vellum laid down on paper
14 x 10 1/8 in. (35.6 x 25.8 cm.)
Painted circa 1932

Provenance

Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
Robert de Galea, Paris.
Sam Salz, Inc., New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan L. Halpern, New York (acquired from the above, October 1959).
By descent from the above to the present owners.

Sale room notice

The Foundation Georges Rouault has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
According to the Fondation Georges Rouault the signature lower center and the monogram lower right are not by the artist's hand and have therefore been removed.
Please note the correct medium is oil on paper laid down on paper.

Lot Essay

Rouault painted this gouache for possible use as a maquette for an illustration in his second book about the circus, Cirque de l'étoile filante. The artist did not ultimately include this image, but instead used elements taken from it in two other gouache maquettes (Rouault, nos. 1295 and 1328) that were engraved for the book, where they appear as the illustrations on pages 8 and 142.

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