The National Gallery in London puts on fascinating shows giving context and background to some of its paintings. Degas and Miss La La is one of those exhibitions and is free to visit.
I’ve seen this painting many times and had never really thought about who the subject was (not even that she was a woman of colour). I now stand corrected. Born in Prussia (now Poland) into a family with no ties to the circus, Olga Brown trained in gymnastics and began performing as an aerialist in a troupe from the age of nine. Yes, nine.
By the time Degas saw her in Paris she was a celebrity, having performed all over Europe. Her most famous act was to hold a cannon in her jaw which was then fired (while she was still holding it!).
The circus was popular entertainment with rich source material for artists – Degas was no exception. Here are some of his preparatory sketches and drawings for the painting.
Brown posed in his studio several times before returning to the circus for her evening performance.
In this study he’s working out how to get the twist of her arm just right.
We don’t often find out much about the model’s independent life but here we do: she continued with her career, married a contortionist, had a daughter whose career she managed and ran a café and inn for performers in Brussels, dying there in 1945.
Here she is in her early 80s. Quite a life.
Now that I know more about the person, I can appreciate the painting at a deeper level.
