Margaret’s daughter, Britt Clapson, tells the story of her discovery in the early nineties of a Polish cart in a second-hand shop, perched in a corner and quietly awaiting a new owner. She knew, instantly, that her mother would want the prized object. Britt was right. It immediately became a valued object and the hero of many paintings and drawings.

Margaret recognised that within the cart lay many stories, stories of support, carriage and mobility. She placed her dog in the cart, a symbol for Margaret of the shadows within our psyche. In this picture a childlike figure, not unlike her images of Francisco*, directs the passage of the cart. 

Scribbled on the back of this painting is the title of the work alongside the words “From the Circus”, Margaret referencing the performative and the layered meaning of the circus. Francisco appears very much in control in this picture although his darkly shaded face provides a barrier to his innermost thoughts. Wonderfully drawn with a background of patterns and hints of the figures of other performers, it is a work that combines many of Margaret’s foremost themes.

* Francisco was a favourite subject of the Spanish artist Diego Velazquez. Margaret became enamoured with his image and often included him in her paintings.