Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus

1879

Medium

Pastel, on blue paper (now discolored)

Dimensions

46.4 × 29.8 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-194321

Edgar Degas was fascinated by the modern city and its places of entertainment, notably the opera house, the racetrack, and the circus. In these venues, he sought out unusual perspectives and extremes of movement: the subject of this drawing offered him both. The Cirque Fernando opened its doors in 1875 in the Pigalle neighborhood, a hotspot for Parisian nightlife and progressive art. Degas lived nearby, as did Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Georges Seurat, all of whom painted pictures of the Cirque Fernando. It was there that Degas watched a famous aerialist known as “Miss La La” in January 1879. Born Olga Brown in 1858 in what is today Poland, this biracial performer toured France and England under a variety of stage names (the Venus of the Tropics, the African Princess) calculated to appeal to European notions of “exotic” beauty. She was a virtuoso performer. Her act included various feats of strength and agility, but its climax involved being hoisted high in the air by means of a pulley, a rope, and a specially fitted dental device. This is the feat Degas portrayed here. He was so captivated by Miss La La’s performance that he returned night aft…