Waiting for the carnival

A man in a navy braided coat, bowler hat, and ruffled collar sits centered, flanked by a bare-breasted woman in pale ruffled shorts leaning on his shoulder and, at right, a girl in a puffed white dress holding up a small blue bird. Behind them rises a red-and-gold carnival canopy with blue drapery; at left a giraffe stands among cypresses before a hillside village of red-roofed houses.

Saturated ultramarine, crimson and ochre dominate against a pale sandy ground, each figure modeled in smooth, hard-edged strokes. Flat, even light casts almost no shadow, giving the crowded, unrelated elements - exotic animal, circus tent, costumed child - a frozen, theatrical hush.