Edgar Degas's 1879 Painting of Circus Performer Miss La La at Cirque Fernando

Edgar Degas painted Anna Olga Albertina Brown, known as Miss La La, in 1879 during visits to the Cirque Fernando in Paris. The circus, built in 1875, attracted Impressionist artists like Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Seurat. Miss La La, born in 1858 in former Prussian territory, was a mixed-race performer celebrated for strength acts, such as holding objects with her teeth. Degas created over 20 sketches before completing the painting, which features a foreshortened view of her ascending on a rope. This work was shown at the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1879. Scholars note Degas may have drawn on Italian art to depict her as a saint-like figure, emphasizing her pose and costume over her face. The painting's perspective immerses viewers in the circus audience. The Getty Museum featured the piece in a 2012 YouTube video titled 'Edgar Degas’s Studies of Circus Performer Miss La La.'