# At the Circus: The Bareback Rider (Au Cirque: Écuyère)

**Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec** (French, 1864–1901)  
1888  
Oil on vellum  
Diam.: 26.7 cm (10 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2010.413. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/204686).

## About this work

One of Toulouse-Lautrec’s favorite haunts was the Cirque Fernando, also the subject of his large painting, Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) . Like many of the artists in his circle, Toulouse-Lautrec experimented with styles and materials beyond easel painting. His decision to paint on a tambourine with little castanets was perhaps inspired by the instrument’s association with bohemian life and creative freedom.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted this in 1888, aged 24. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of oil on vellum.

_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.

### [Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec)

French, 1864–1901; born in Albi; died in Saint-André-du-Bois

Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic family in Albi; after two leg fractures in his teens his legs stopped growing, and he turned to art. Trained in Paris under Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon, he settled in Montmartre and recorded its dance halls, cabarets, circuses and brothels with quick, incisive line. His colour lithograph posters for the Moulin Rouge and its performers transformed the street poster. He died at the family’s Château de Malromé at the age of thirty-six.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France
- The artist was 24
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: performance, woman, performers, music, man, instruments, horse, circuses
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/352.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/352/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/at-the-circus-the-bareback-rider-au-cirque-ecuyere-aic-204686).