Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando (Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg)1879
The two girls in this painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg, acrobats who performed in the famed Cirque Fernando in Paris. More about this work
About this work
The two girls in this painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg, acrobats who performed in the famed Cirque Fernando in Paris. They are depicted clutching oranges tossed to them from the crowd as gifts. Although they are painted standing in the center of a circus ring, Renoir actually painted them in his studio, where he could take full advantage of natural sunlight.
Text from the Art Institute of Chicago.
What you’re looking at
Two girls in acrobatic uniforms stand in an arena, one holds oranges.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841–1919 · Born in Limoges; died in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Renoir began as a painter of porcelain in Paris, then studied in Gleyre’s studio, where he met Monet, Sisley and Bazille. In the 1870s he was a central figure of Impressionism, painting Parisians at leisure in dappled light. A journey to Italy in 1881–82 led him towards firmer drawing and more classical compositions. Despite severe rheumatoid arthritis in later life he continued to paint, settling at Cagnes-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean, where he died.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Impressionism
Painters in 1870s Paris who worked quickly, often outdoors, to catch light as it changed.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1922.440
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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