Private Collection, Paris, before 1961
Sale: Christie's, London, June 25, 1996, lot 52
Ac✃quired at the above sale by the present owner 

The present work belongs to a series that culminated in the last masterpiece by the artist La Grande Parade, a monumental canvas of 1953, which is now in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.  This very finished study most closely relates to La Grande Parade, Premier état of 1952 (Fig. 1). The circus fascinated Léger since childhood.  The theme first appeared in 1918 and then again in the 1930s and culminated in the series of compositions in preparation for La Grande Parade.  For the artist the circus was a way of escaping everyday reality.  It symbolized the joy of life, accessible to everyone no matter what age, race or religion.  The subject also corresponded to the socialist ideas established after the horrific experiences of war.  They believed that everyone should have access to and be able to appreciate art.  At a time troubled by the tensions of the cold war, the artist focused on portraying such universal joys in large scale paintings to create some of the most outstanding undertakings of his career, such as Les Loisirs, La Partie de Campagne and La Grand Parade.

The artist himself commented on the evolution of this composition, “If I drew the people of the circus, acrobats, clowns and jugglers, it is because I have taken an interest in their work for over 30 years…. For La Grande Parade I made a large number of drawings and studies because I am a classicist: if my first drawings are always impulsive, I know what to take from them what I need.  One year separates the first version of La Grande Parade from the final one.  This interval corresponds to the long task of elaboration and synthesis. The slightest change was thought through at length and worked on with the help of drawings.  In the first version colors filled the forms.  In the final version, one can see that the external color planes give the composition its strength and power” (translated from Gilles Neret, Léger, Paris, 1990, p. 235)

Fig. 1 Fernand Léger, La Grande Parade, premier état, 1952, oil on canvas, Private Collection