'The Circus' was created by Marc Chagall in 1964 in France. This piece is an oil painting on canvas and is associated with the Naïve Art (Primitivism) movement.

The more we stimulate our brains, the more nerve connections we make and the better our brains work. At our Monday group we work with an amazing group of people living with Dementia, where we often look at art and review what we see. Making art is fun but it’s also a workout for our brains! Last week we looked at the painting 'The Circus' (1964) by Marc Chagall (1887–1985) and here are some of what was said:

"That’s different isn’t it? Very recognisable artist. It’s colourful. It’s the circus."

"She’s defying gravity on the horseback. It’s obviously the circus, but it’s not realistic. There’s a weird thingy playing the trumpet. Is it a horse? I don’t know how she’s staying on the back of that thing,

she’s like “Oh, Come to me!!”

"The tightrope walker isn’t on the rope. No rope or anything! Looks like he’s holding up the other chap. He has a very long arm. The chap on the left is looking back; he’s going to fall off!"

"It looks like it’s been painted separately and then stuck on. It’s a very small horse, or a very big ballerina. The circus is separated in 3 different sections, with different colours."

"There’s a very sinister looking clown. Makes you wonder where he’s standing. And here, there’s a monster. Is that a piano underneath? What’s the guy doing? Is he telling someone off? He looks like he is. The monster looks like is breathing fire. It’s got an eye. It can’t be a dragon as it hasn’t got wings. Looks more like a pig."

"It looks like there are lots of people sitting on the edge. On the right, it appears to be a balcony with a man with cymbals. There’s music coming from the balcony, and lots of “Oos” and “Aahs”."

"You don’t know where to look, there’s so much going on. Is he holding a hoop? It looks all fragmented. Definitely very odd."

"Looks badly painted but also very well painted. The colours seem to go off the edge. There’s an upside down one. It’s got quite a cheerful feeling. I can imagine people would be enjoying themselves. They look like they’re smiling. The yellow colour adds to the cheerfulness, but not the blue. There’s only outlines of the people in the audience, some bits painted, some not at all. You can see the background colour coming through."

These sessions run every Monday and are designed with the needs of people living with all stages and types of dementia and long term neurological conditions in mind, and the needs of the people who are caring for them. We have spouses, children, professional carers, friends and family members who stay and get involved.