The Circus is a favorite theme of Chagall. The acrobats and jugglers who populated his childhood, and the shows that he attended with publisher Vollard at the Cirque d'Hiver, have inspired many of his works: oils on canvas, watercolors and lithographs. In 1967 he said; that Cirque, through the centuries, is the cry most acute in search of fun and joy of man. It often takes the form of high poetry. The Cirque series consists of 32 works, and are exhibited the Centre Pompidou-National Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum National Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice. Among them, the drawings as The Acrobat (1918) and Clown (1930) report major works such as Cirque (Oil on canvas), then the series of lithographs published in 1957 by Tériade. The circus theme is omnipresent in the works of the last five years of the life of the artist, who devotes many lithographs 1980-1985.

A special exhibition of works by the renowned artist Marc Chagall, focusing on the artist’s connection with circus life, has been launched at a French museum to mark the 20th anniversary of his death.
The display, which is being shown at the Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice, includes 16 paintings and 36 drawings united around the theme of the circus.