Henri-Gabriel IBELS (1867-1936) Les Hercules de foire, circa 1910-20 Oil on panel. Signed lower left. 35 x 26.5 cm In what constitutes a trilogy of popular spectacles at the end of the 19th century, along with cafés-concerts and the circus, Ibels also took an interest in fairground performers. He devoted a rare portfolio of 17 etchings to them, circa 1895, with a particular focus on the emblematic fairground Hercules. In plate no. 5, an 1898 supplement to Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, he depicts one in majesty. Our little canvas is a perfect depiction of what these feats of strength were like for the astonished public. The treatment is no longer in Nabian touches, but in vigorous brushstrokes, in relief of the canvas.