(Vienna 1894–1977 New York)
“Circus Colosseum”, signed and dated Floch J. 1917, oil on canvas, 140 x 125 cm, framed

Provenance:
Sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 9 June 2015, lot 42
Private Collection, Vorarlberg

Compare:
Karl Pallauf, Josef Floch, Salzburg 2000, pp. 106–107

Josef Floch began his studies at the Academy in Vienna in October 1913 and already had to go to war in the summer of 1914. Despite this, he was able to continue his studies, which he completed in 1919. In accordance with the circumstances of the time, he completed relatively few paintings in these years, including landscape studies, portraits and his own group of genre paintings that capture market and backyard situations and people at work.
Some of them appear to be preliminary studies for this painting, “Circus Colosseum”, which, simply because of its unusual large dimensions, should be regarded as the main work of this phase. In an expressionist manner, the young artist experiments with color tones, superimposes them dynamically and thus conveys a lively atmosphere of this fairground scene. Excitement arises from the contrast between the strictly formal architecture and the moving, "chaotic" gathering of the crowd.