What stories we can imagine in front of this painting! It shows two carefully dressed and elegant men riding a small donkey and a large mule, boot to boot, from behind. There is a contrast between the clothes of the very well dressed riders and the spread legs of the donkey and the watering cans they are holding, which is a bit bizarre! What happens during the interval? That suspended moment before entering the stage, that time out that is as anxious as it is exciting? That interval when everything is still possible and everything is in turmoil... 

Alfons Alt accompanied Bartabas' troupe, the founder of the equestrian theatre Zingaro, during their show "La cabaret de l'exil". The meeting of these two worlds plunges us into a dreamlike world populated by animals, nature and mythology. Alfons Alt walks on the borders of painting, photography and engraving by a process invented in the middle of the 19th century that he has updated and named "Altotype". By combining these processes, he takes us into a singular pigmented universe and gives us the opportunity to see unique creations. He says it himself: "It is exactly there that I situate myself between the reality of photography and the dream world of painting with the sensuality of the material.

Retour De Voyage likes this painting full of metaphors in which it is easy to project oneself and even to recognize oneself... Breathe in, and let's go!