Aleksandr Rodchenko

In 1935, after a long, productive period in photography, Rodchenko returned to painting. He had always been drawn to the energy of acrobats, clowns and musicians, the entire milieu of the circus. And in the mid-thirties, when socialist realist art espoused gravity of purpose, Rodchenko maintained the importance of light-hearted play. “Does a socialist country not need ventriloquists, conjurers, jugglers, carpets, fireworks, planetariums and kaleidoscopes?” he wrote. In fact, when he remodeled his studio in 1935, he covered the walls with his circus compositions.

“Why is it that only the mediocre and the conventional are considered correct,” he wondered in a letter to his daughter. “A real artist must live in world of different values and rules.” For Rodchenko, the circus was a kind of sanctuary from the banality of “realism,” where rules and perceptions could be toppled, the laws of gravity suspended, identities called into question. The themes of circus, sport and performance would occupy the artist for at least six more years.

The Juggler, like other paintings in the series, is awash in color. Blues, pinks and yellows suffuse the canvas, participating in the activity of the juggler. There is vivid life in the painting, even as the juggler, face set in concentration, brings a pensive dimension to the dynamic tableau. This enigmatic tension could best be compared to a later painting in the same series, Female Acrobat (see fig. 1).  In this 1938 painting, we perceive an overwhelming sadness in the gaze of the female acrobat, but the yellow palette undercuts this sentiment with its vibrant hue.

The Juggler is a remarkable work by the Constructivist master, executed at a crucial moment in his career. The placement of the sole juggler figure accentuates his isolation, bringing to mind Rodchenko’s repeated pleas that art and politics not intersect. This nuanced, unusual combination of vitality and meditation conveys an optimistic spirit asserting itself during the height of creative repression.