Picasso and the printmaker Hidalgo Arnéra collaborated for the best part of a decade after Picasso moved to the Côte d'Azur in the 1950s. The pair always had the same routine: the artist creating late into the night; having his chauffeur drive his work to Arnéra's workshop first thing the next morning; Arnéra printing the linocut; and then returning it to Picasso at 1.30pm for assessment. Picasso grew very fond of Arnéra throughout their time together, even presenting this very linocut to Arnéra's son as a gift. The world of the circus provided fertile ground for Picasso's Symbolist concerns that had given rise to the Blue Period works. He made weekly visits from his studio in Paris to the nearby Cirque Médrano and when he moved to the South of France he revisited the theme of the carnival, clowns and jesters producing this work. Picasso celebrated the dichotomy between the effusive on-stage personae of these performers and the struggles of their personal lives.

Linocuts in colours, 1965, on watermarked Arches paper, signed twice, once in the lower left corner as customary and a second time after the dedication, dated 'le 18.2.65' and dedicated in pencil 'Pour Arnera fils' ('For Arnera's son'), 75.3 x 62.2 cm. (29¾ x 24½ in.)

Bloch 1193; Baer 1356 second state of two, II.B.b (of II.B.b)