Madame Carré with her grey in Carré circus

The circus was one of the artist's favourite subjects. He regurlarly attended the performances of the circus Carré in Amsterdam in the 1880's and had special permission to work behind the scenes. He befriended the circus director Oscar Carré and his wife, whom he portrayed at various occassions (see T. Meedendorp, Otto Eerelman 1839-1926, Amsterdam, 1989, p. 24).