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Circus Comes to Town with Degas Masterpiece
One of Edgar Degas’s most spectacular paintings has arrived in the Midlands for the first time as the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. The Impressionist tour de force Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando has been lent by the National Gallery, where it was recently one of the highlights of the critically acclaimed show Art in the Making: Degas.
The picture has been joined by a series of related works, including a preparatory pastel study from Tate and two important drawings from the Barber Institute’s own collection, Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando and The Cirque Fernando – Architectural Study. An x-ray and an infrared image of the painting are also be displayed, clarifying its development and the role of the Barber drawings.
Originally exhibited in Paris at the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in April 1879, Miss La La features a sensational mixed-race acrobat, known as ‘Cannon Woman’ (la femme canon) in the course of her most extravagant circus act. Its climax came with her being hoisted slowly to the top of the circus building on a rope, attached only by a bit between her teeth. Barber Senior Curator Dr Paul Spencer-Longhurst said it was small wonder Miss La La was one of Degas’s most famous paintings.
“Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando is undoubtedly one of London’s prize Impressionist treasures,” said Dr Spencer-Longhurst. “It is wonderful to be able to display it in Birmingham in this fascinating context.”
Reunited: Degas and ‘Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando’ is the latest in a series of small exhibitions in which Barber works are reunited with related compositions from other collections. A series of lectures and Art Alive! performances accompany it.
| For further information, please contact Andrew Davies, Barber Press and Marketing Officer, on 0121 414 2946 or andrewdavies@barber.org.uk |