Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando

The rope seems to disappear at Miss La La’s mouth. She is supporting her weight through a leather mouthpiece clenched between her teeth, performing the act known as the Iron Jaw. High above the audience, her body hangs within the roof’s beams and painted surfaces. Edgar Degas, a French painter interested in modern performers and unusual poses, watched her at the Cirque Fernando in Paris. Her name was Anna Albertine Olga Brown, and she had performed from childhood before becoming famous as Miss La La. Degas made several preparatory studies for this painting of 1879, including work on the complicated roof structure. The viewpoint makes us look upwards rather than offering the performer at eye level. Large areas of architecture help convey the space through which she has been lifted. Notice the relationship between the rope, her tilted body and the sloping beams. The act depends on strength and control, while the composition keeps the sensation of height in view. Degas exhibited the painting at the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition that same year.