Renoir’s Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando and in Clapham too.
The two young circus artists who modelled for Renoir in his Paris studio in the 1870s were unknown until Angeline Wartenberg wrote from Clapham to her niece in California in 1938 to say they were herself and her sister Franziska. From his forthcoming book, Acrobats and Aerialists in Circus, Music Hall and Beyond, 1850s-1900s, Charlie Holland will show rare photos and tell the tale of the much-travelled Wartenbergs whose home of many years was in The Chase. A Lambeth resident and former circus performer, Charlie was the Programme Director of London’s Circus Space, latterly the National Centre for the Circus Arts. He is the Secretary of the British Music Hall Society and lead organiser of the European Circus History Conference.