The Monkeys at the Fair 1942

Edgar Chahine painted these monkeys at the fair with oils, and what I love most is the soft, muted palette, it is not the circus colors you might expect. I can imagine him there, maybe in 1942, as the signature suggests, capturing the scene with delicate strokes, building up layers of pigment, in a dance of observation and invention. Those monkeys! Perched precariously in their little outfits, they must have felt so self-conscious. I wonder, did Chahine see a bit of himself in their performance? Is he also on show here? You can almost feel the weight of the audience, those rows and rows of painted faces, all staring, all expecting something. Artists are always in conversation with each other. This reminds me of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec and all those late 19th and early 20th-century artists looking at modern life. Chahine has this down-to-earth view of human spectacle; it’s all a little awkward, a little funny, and full of unspoken emotions.