This book explores one of the most enchanting and recurrent motifs in Marc Chagall’s oeuvre: the circus.
Throughout his prolific career, Chagall returned to the vivid imagery of acrobats, clowns, and fantastical performers, transforming the circus into a metaphor for the complexities, joys, and sorrows of the human experience.

Presenting Chagall's celebrated lithographs on this subject alongside a selection of paintings, it offers both an introduction to Chagall’s work and life and an examination of his unique vision and symbology. By situating these works within the context of Chagall’s personal background, his experiences as an immigrant, and his lifelong embrace of theatricality, the book will illuminate how these factors shaped his circus imagery. It will further contextualise these images among those of Chagall's peers within European modernism.
While central to Chagall’s art, the circus has never been the sole subject of a comprehensive study. The book also features a new translation of Chagall's essay 'The Circus', first published in French in 1967 but never published in English in its entirety.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
The Hepworth Wakefield 21 November 2026 - 25 April 2027
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum 7 May - 28 August 2027
Published by Paul Holberton Publishing/Distributed by Yale University Press