The heavy black outlines and glowing color of Georges Rouault’s distinctive style are often attributed to his experience as an apprentice glass painter and restorer in his youth. Later, while studying at the École des Beaux-Arts under Gustave Moreau, Rouault was influenced by his master’s spiritualism. But his ability to turn his back on traditional academic painting became clear when he joined Matisse in the infamous Fauves (wild beasts) room at the 1905 Salon d’Automne. In 1907, Rouault took up the theme of circus clowns, which, together with prostitutes and legal judges, became a recurrent theme. His circus figures sometimes evoke pathos and at other times appear as mute otherworldly presences, reflecting Rouault’s growing religiosity and dark view of the human condition.