The circus world was a favoured theme of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degar, Georges Seurat). Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris just a few years later and followed in their footsteps: he chose Montmartre as his residence, and he enjoyed visiting the funfairs and the performances of the Médrano circus. Harlequins, acrobats and female circus riders appeared in Picasso’s drawings and canvases, bringing the painter’s pink period, in which, after the dark shades and bluish tones of his earlier pieces, the artist’s works were now filled with warmer colours and became much more vital. His circus characters are the „poster figures” of a creative life free from conventions.

It is a strange twist that second-hand dealer Clovis Sagot, a former clown of the Médrano circus, was one of the first buyers of Picasso’s paintings, and it was in his shop that Gertrude Stein’s art-collecting brother, Leo, first saw one of his works. Gertrude Stein later became one of Picasso’s most devoted patrons, and she even wrote a book about the artist, not devoid of enthusiasm and bias.