La Petite Ecuyère. The Little Circus Rider. by Georges Rouault, 1871-1958

Georges Rouault, 1871-1958
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La Petite Ecuyère. The Little Circus Rider.

Original etching with aquatint in black ink. 1935/38. Signed in full ink. Signed with the monogram in the plate and dated. Very rare ink signed proof - one of just 35 impressions -before the total edition of 280 impressions in colour. Proof for the series: Cirque de L'Etoile Filante. Printed at the studio of Lacourière, 1937/38. Issued by Vollard Paris 1938.
Ref: I.Rouault - Georges Rouault no 245a

Excellent very rich proof impression. On pale cream japan paper. Excellent condition; just the very faintest hint of a mount mark. Full margins. Sheet: 17 1/4 x 12 1/2ins. Plate: 12 x 8 1/4ins (305x212mm)

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One of the rare first state impressions, in black ink, of the famous composition 'The Little Circus Rider' which Rouault etched in 1936 for his series of circus compositions. Only 35 impressions were printed of this first state, and this is a very rare example fully signed in ink by Rouault (the edition of 35 was in principal unsigned).

Rouault had first begun to think about a series of etched compositions using themes of the circus as early as 1920. He wrote shortly afterwards to his great friend and mentor the writer André Suares to ask whether he would write a text to go with the set of prints. The prints were etched and printed in colours at Potin's studio and the text by Suares completed by about 1931. However the project was abandoned when Vollard, the publisher, discovered that the text might 'upset his American clients' in its politics. Rouault then etched a second set of prints, in black and white and then colour, working at Lacourière's studio. 'La Petite Ecuyère' forms part of that series.

The circus was always a powerful source of inspiration for Rouault, for he saw in it not a celebration of light-hearted gaiety but a symbol of the moral falsehood of society. Outward gaiety, seemingly rich and splendid clothing, in fact hid poverty, suffering and poor social conditions. This he used as a way of condemning the attitudes of his own bourgeois society, especially in the years of the 'Depression' when these works were executed.