Jean Richard Goubie

M. Molier, Paris (gifted from the artist)
M. Lopez Windshaw, Paris
Private Collection (by descent from the above, his uncle)
Antoine Cheneviere, London
Private Collection, Virginia (1986)
Guarisco Gallery, Washington D.C. (2011)
Private Collection, Georgia

Female Acrobat on Horse Wax lined. Under UV: Varnish somewhat difficult to read through. Possible strokes of inpainting in figure's face and costume, as well as the horse's body, tail, and mane. Horse: Wax lined. Under UV: Varnish somewhat difficult to read through. Dots of inpainting to horse's face, mane, and back, pin dots of inpainting to hose's rear leg, and thin lines of inpainting in horse's mane and back. Male acrobat on Horse: Wax lined. Under UV: Varnish difficult to read through. Strokes of inpainting in figure's costume, as well in horse's body, tail, mane. Clown with hat looking right: Unlined. Under UV: Spot of inpainting to the clown's neck. Clown with glasses and red hair: Unlined. Under UV: Varnish difficult to read through, no inpainting apparent. Monkey: Wax lined. Under UV: Areas of inpainting around the horse in the background. Pair of Dogs: Unlined. Under UV: Areas of inpainting in the background, primarily along the top right and bottom edges, and around chair. Pin dots of inpainting in white dog and top of black dog.
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The circus reached the height of its popularity in the late nineteenth century, but it has been a favorite subject for artists since the Renaissance, all drawn to its color, exoticism, and dynamism, as well as the compelling psychological, socio-economic, and theatrical tensions it aroused.  One of the most renowned circuses of the late nineteenth century was the Cirque Molier, an amateur circus that was famously portrayed in James Tissot’s Women of Paris: The Circus Lover (1885, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, fig. 1).  The Cirque Molier was founded by the skilled equestrian and horse trainer Ernest Molier, who built a circus ring at his home on the Rue de Benouville, right outside the gates of the Bois de Boulogne, where he welcomed aristocratic amateur entertainers, such as Count Hubert de la Rochefoucault and Baronne von Walkberg, to perform for other members of the Parisian “high society.”  Invitations to the Cirque Molier were highly coveted, and the list would have certainly included the wealthy patrons of artists such as Richard Goubie. The present group of seven paintings, which the artist gifted to Ernest Molier himself and may have been studies for a larger painting or poster illustrations or else decorations intended for the big top, would have been just as enthusiastically received by Belle Époque audiences as they are today.