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Georges Seurat French
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 825
At the Salon des Indépendants in 1888 Seurat demonstrated the versatility of his technique by exhibiting Circus Sideshow, a nighttime outdoor scene in artificial light, and Models, an indoor, daylight scene (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia). This is Seurat’s first nocturnal painting and the first to depict popular entertainment. It represents the parade, or sideshow, of the Circus Corvi at the annual Gingerbread Fair, held in eastern Paris around the place de la Nation, in spring 1887. Sideshows were staged outside the circus tent, for free, to entice passersby to purchase tickets. The onlookers at the far right are queued on stairs leading to the box office.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
Artwork Details
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Title: Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque)
Artist: Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
Date: 1887–88
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 39 1/4 x 59 in. (99.7 x 149.9 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960
Accession Number: 61.101.17
Learn more about this artwork
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.
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.
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.
Timeline of Art History
Essay
Georges Seurat (1859-1891) and Neo-Impressionism
Essay
Post-Impressionism
Essay
The Lure of Montmartre, 1880-1900
Chronology
France, 1800-1900 A.D.
Museum Publications
The New Nineteenth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture Galleries
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)
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
Seurat's Circus Sideshow
One Met. Many Worlds.
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Georges Seurat, 1859–1891
French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue
Art = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History
"Impressionists in the Metropolitan"
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Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
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Architectural Motif: Double Acanthus Fleuron
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Architectural Motifs: Four Rinceaux
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Edmond-Francois Aman-Jean
Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
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Georges Seurat (French, Paris 1859–1891 Paris)
ca. 1883–84
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