Picasso and the Circus

Book excerpt: Focusing on prints (etchings, drypoints, color lithographs), Picasso and the Circus presents a pivotal moment in Picasso's early career, between his Blue and Rose Periods, when he was increasingly drawn to the subject of the circus in Paris. The book analyzes the circus and related spectacles in fin-de-siecle Paris, and how they were interpreted by print arts of the era, including Jules Cheret, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Henri Gray, Edgar Chahine, and Richard Ranft. It then considers Pablo Picasso's Suite de Saltimbanques (1904-6), an early and highly important series of etchings and drypoints related primarily to acrobats (saltimbanques). The popularity of the circus in late 19th-and early 20th-century Paris certainly resonates in the works of many artists. From sensational--and sensationalized--feats of strength and prowess to moving depictions of poverty and the life of the outcast, these prints not only expand our understanding of the period, they also represent some of Picasso's finest work.