- Cirque Medrano
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Toulouse-Lautrec's oil sketch, Cirque Fernando: The Equestrienne, 1887–88, suggests a stylish gentlemen-only dress rehearsal before white tie dinners or the opera [1]
The Cirque Medrano (in English: Circus Medrano) is a French circus, that was located at 63 Boulevard Rochechouart, at the corner of rue des Martyrs, on the edge of Montmartre in Paris. It was originally called Cirque Fernando. The circus is now a travelling circus touring across the world.
History
The family Cirque Fernando was linked to the British travelling circus family Robert Austen Brothers. This link led to Cirque Fernando changing its name and becoming a European travelling circus. The name Robert Austens Mediterrean Circus became MedRAno. Medrano was also the name of a Spanish clown employed at the Cirque Fernando in Paris. Past performers have included Buster Keaton together with his wife Eleanor as a double act between 1947 and 1954 [2], Annie Fratellini, and Arthur Vercoe Pedlar.
Cirque Medrano in the arts
Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist artist, painted Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando in 1879, now in the National Gallery in London [3]. Auguste Renoir, another Impressionist artist, painted Jugglers at the Cirque Fernando [4]. In the late 19th century, the Parisian post-impressionist artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec also attended the Cirque Medrano and produced pictures based on it [5].
External links
Categories:- Circuses in Paris
- 18th arrondissement of Paris
- France stubs
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