Circus in art

A circus is often associated with positive and unforgettable emotions; it can be easily depicted by different kinds of visual art. The exposition consists of two parts: the art works dedicated to circus life from the collections of the State Darwin Museum and the art works of contemporary artists.

The exhibition traditionally starts with the Durov dynasty: Anatoliy and Vladimir Durovy are considered the founders of the humane animal training. V.L. Durov used to say that not once he could hit an artist. That was his attitude to all artists including the elephant Baby, chimpanzee Mimusu, pig Chushka and many others. N.N. Ladygina-Kohts, a co-founder of the Darwin museum, was in correspondence with the daughter of the famous trainer Durova-Sadovskaya. The questions of zoopsychology were equally interesting for scientists and circus artists.  

The soviet circus impressed by the large scale of shows: 4 elephants and dancers in the shows of the Kornilov dynasty, 12 lions were trained by Irina Bugrimova, 38 predators were involved in the show of Valter Zapashniy. The exhibition presents graphic art works by V.V. Trofimov such as frontispiece for the book by V. Filatov and A.Aronov “The bear circus” (1962). The author of this book says that he created not just a show with trained bears but the series of performances where furry artists could perform almost on the same level as humans.

There is no circus without a clown. Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin is one of the most prominent soviet clowns and artists. The exhibition features the art work by L.V. Khinshtein “Yuri Nikulin with a parrot” (1995) and the sculptures by N.M. Pavlova “Karandash and Kliaksa”, “Y. Kuklachyov with a cat” (2016). The second part of the exhibition includes art works created by contemporary artists. The circus is loved not only in Moscow but in many other Russian cities. The museum received applications from Saint Petersburg, Smolensk, Tambov, Tomsk and even Baku. The exhibition presents works of various kinds of art: photography, painting, sculpture and relief.  

S.G. Tugarinova. Anna Vladimirovna Durova with her pets, a raven, a dog and a fox. 1956. Porcelain, overglaze painting, gilding. State Darwin Museum

V.V. Trofimov. Walking lions. Cover of the book by A.N. Buslaev "Notes of a lion tamer". 1965. Paper, watercolour, black marker. State Darwin Museum

N.M.Pavlova. Yuri Kuklachyov with a cat. From the series "Our favourite clowns". 2016. Porcelain, glazing. Overglaze painting, gilding.

State Darwin Museum 

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