Three acrobats on a trapeze bar, two sitting, one hanging upside down by her legs
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Soft gray lines and shaded tones depict three acrobats on white paper. Suspended from the roof of a domed structure, a long trapeze bar holds three acrobats. At an angle and from below we see a woman seated at either side of the bar, in three quarter profile facing away from us. Between them a third woman grips the bar with her bent knees, hanging upside down, facing toward us with her arms extended down and outward behind her. Each woman wears a body suit and has long hair pulled back and tied with a bow.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.921
People
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French (Albi 1864 - 1901 Malromé)
Title
The Flying Trapeze
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1899
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297475

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Graphite on white wove paper
Dimensions
actual: 49.7 x 32.6 cm (19 9/16 x 12 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: ur: red seal
    back of mount: WCA 590

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.921
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Agnes Mongan, ed., One Hundred Master Drawings, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, 1949), p. 200, repr.
  • Jean Sagne, Toulouse-Lautrec au cirque, Flammarion (Paris, France, 1991), p. 100, repr. p. 101
  • Claire Freches and Jose Freches, Toulouse-Lautrec: Les Lumieres de la Nuit, Decouvertes Gallimard/Reunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, France, 1991), repr. p. 167

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/07/2024 - 06/10/2024

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu