Renoir’s circus girls were older than their innocent, rosy appearance suggests
In short: Pierre-Auguste Renoir famously insisted that art should be "likeable, joyous, and pretty," avoiding the "ugly things" of life. In his 1879 depiction of circus acrobats, he used a rose-colored lens to transform a gritty Parisian pastime into a halo of soft light and childhood innocence.
In 'Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando,' Renoir captures Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg, two sisters performing in a late nineteenth-century Parisian circus. While the painting evokes a sense of youthful purity, the sisters were actually seventeen and fourteen years old at the time of the work. Renoir deliberately chose to portray them as much younger, emphasizing his enchantment with the innocence of childhood over the reality of their lives as entertainers. The sisters were performing in a popular Parisian pastime during the late nineteenth century. Renoir chose to pose them in their costumes inside his own studio. This allowed him to capture their likeness in daylight. He wanted to preserve their appearance as they took their bows after a performance.
The artist went to great lengths to curate the aesthetic of the scene. To avoid the 'grimaces' caused by 'harsh gas lighting' at the circus, he photographed the sisters within his studio to utilise natural light. He then purified the setting by surrounding them with a soft glow of whites, yellows, oranges, and pinks. He relegated the "unwholesome" aspects of the circus—specifically the men on the prowl—to the very top of the composition, ensuring they did not disrupt the primary focus on the girls. The girls were surrounded by a virtual halo of vibrant colors. One sister acknowledges the approval of the crowd. The other sister holds a collection of oranges. These fruits were a rare gift tossed in tribute by the audience.
The painting serves as a testament to Renoir's specific artistic philosophy: a refusal to add to the "ugly things" already present in the world. Even the tribute from the crowd—an armful of oranges—is rendered as a rare, pretty treat. Bertha Honoré Palmer, the painting's original purchaser, was so captivated by this crafted image that she carried it everywhere, including while journeying overseas. The work was originally part of the Potter Palmer Collection. It was owned by a Chicago collector who kept it with her at all times. She even took the painting on her travels abroad. The piece is currently held by the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Sources
- Source: Art Institute of Chicago — Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando (Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg) · CC0 (data); description CC BY 4.0
- Also: Public Image Ltd
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