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145:, among many others), who came to sketch the performers in action, which sometimes resulted in full paintings. They brought in their wake members of the Parisian "bohème", writers, journalists, actors, who generated publicity for the circus. Mrs. Fernando, who oversaw the box office, decided to let the painters work freely in the circus during rehearsals and watch the performances free of charge — a tradition that will remain under the subsequent management of Gerónimo Medrano.
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201:, who soon became the Idols of Paris and ensured Medrano's financial success. When Berthe Medrano died of cancer in 1920, Rodolphe Bonten took over the full management of the circus, but the lease actually reverted to Jérôme Medrano, who was only thirteen. Bonten's management was sound, if not overly imaginative (he let the Fratellinis go to his main competition, Paris's
220:, and was not in a position to buy his circus back; the wealthy Bouglione family, owners of Paris's Cirque d'Hiver, bought the land and the walls from their rightful owners, the Saint family, paying them in gold! At the end of the War, Jérôme Medrano found himself being the tenant of his main competitors.
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were regulars. Medrano managed the circus until his death in 1912. Then, his wife, Berthe (née Perrin,1876-1920), took over the circus, and gave the artistic management to
Rodolphe Bonten, a former acrobat. Gerónimo and Berthe had a son, Jérôme Medrano (1907-1998), who was five years old when his
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was being built. Fernando thus went on to search for a suitable empty lot nearby, and found it on the
Boulevard de Rochechouart, between the rue des Martyrs and the present rue Viollet-le-Duc. He had considerable success there, which went far beyond the context of the fair. He therefore managed to
153:(1849-1912), known as "Boum-Boum," his financial management of the family's enterprise was often erratic. He eventually led the circus to bankruptcy in October 1897. In the following December, Gerónimo Medrano bought back Fernando's lease, and renamed the circus
263:—a sort of Bavarian beer-hall. The building slowly went into a state of disrepair. The Bougliones demolished it in December 1974: in 1975, it would have been one-hundred years old and become a protected landmark... A nondescript apartment building called
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From one lawsuit to another, Jérôme
Medrano managed to stay at the helm of his circus until the end of 1962, when the Bougliones finally took possession of the building. During that time, he continued to give remarkable shows, with such guest stars as
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Fernando Beert eventually gave the management of his circus to his stepson, Louis, known as Louis
Fernando (1851-?). Although Louis's artistic direction proved quite successful, notably with popular revues written for his star clown,
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The
Parisian circus was created by a Belgian circus entrepreneur, Ferdinand Beert (1835-1902), known as Fernando, and was built at the corner of the Boulevard de Rochechouart and the Rue des Martyrs, in what was then the edge of the
391:, Cirque Médrano is mentioned as one of the places that he would visit with his expat friend, Carl. Medrano has also appeared in several French popular novels, in songs, and in films (notably during the German Occupation period).
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name rights from Jérôme and
Violette Medrano and, to this day, his Cirque Medrano-Raoul Gibault has toured France with a big top. His organization has several units that travel under the Medrano title, including
244:. The Cirque Medrano gave its last performance on January 7, 1963, in front of a house packed with the Tout-Paris and a crowd of disconsolate Parisians, habitués, circus fans, and friends from the neighborhood.
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father died. To ensure her son's future, Berthe, whose health was deteriorating, remarried with
Rodolphe Bonten. Jérôme was given a formal education in elite schools that had not much to do with the circus.
205:, in 1924), and Cirque Medrano continued to thrive. It was still a favorite rendez-vous for the Parisian artistic elite — and still attracted many artists, who were always welcome around the ring.
121:, France, in 1872. The following year, he came to Paris to perform at the Fête de Montmartre, but the traditional fairgrounds for this annual fair were on the very spot on which the Church of the
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80:, under the name "Cirque Fernando." The area was a working-class neighborhood at the foot of the hill of Montmartre, famous for its many places of popular entertainment, among which the
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251:, but the magic was gone. Although their shows were commendable, they were mostly a replica of what could be seen at the Cirque d'Hiver. They rented the building for a short while to
352:(1950), for which his sketched his subjects at the Cirque Medrano. There are many other painters who used the Cirques Fernando and Medrano, and their performers, as their subjects.
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of France, the lease of the Cirque
Medrano, which, since Fernando's bankruptcy, included the land as well as the walls, was put for sale. Jérôme Medrano had joined the
111:, 1887–88, shows Louis Fernando leading the horse of an equestrienne. Note the stylish audience that attended circus performances in 19th-century Paris.
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obtain a thirty-year lease on his piece of land to build a permanent circus. Designed by the architect
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also attended the Cirque Medrano and produced many drawing and pastels depicting its performances
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made many study-sketches at the Cirque Medrano for his Pink Period series of acrobats.
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in Paris, and published a full album of drawings and paintings titled
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An acrobat and equestrian, Fernando started his Cirque Fernando in
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Histoire illustrée des Cirques parisiens d'hier et d'aujourd'hui
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