Clown #45 "Annie Fratellini", acrylic on paper,
2 ½” x 3 ½” (64 x 89 mm), 2018
Clown #45 is homage to French clown Annie Fratellini (1932 – 1997). She is the granddaughter of Paul Fratellini and wife of famous French clown Pierre Étaix. in 1974, Annie and Pierre set up the Annie Fratellini Circus School where she was its artistic director. The Fratellini Circus School was the first circus school in her native France, and has trained hundreds of performers worldwide, as well as inspiring numerous other circus schools — now over 200 in France. Both Annie and her school were an influence on the creators of the Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Soliel.
Annie Fratellini
She was an unforgettable clown, with her round face like a white moon, and one of the world’s rare female concertina players, the little accordion of clowns. A tireless and generous communicator of knowledge, she made it possible for young people to enter the profession. She welcomed circus people in search of somewhere to rehearse and perform. She also founded the private Fratellini vocational Lycee [High School], a unique institution which trained its students for backstage circus jobs (erecting the Big Top, artist’s equipment – trapeze, high wire, apparatus – lighting, sound systems, carpentry, metalwork) while introducing them to the artistic disciplines.
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