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Henri Matisse, The Nightmare of the White Elephant (Le Cauchemar de l'éléphant blanc). Mary B. Jackson Fund

Circus

August 1, 2014 - February 22, 2015
Henri Matisse, The Nightmare of the White Elephant (Le Cauchemar de l'éléphant blanc). Mary B. Jackson Fund

Introduction

The circus presents human and animal bodies in their extremes, juxtaposing grace, strength, and elegance with the wonderous and grotesque. These characteristics extend to the visual culture of the circus, from ephemeral advertisements designed by now-unknown artists to monumental canvases executed by critically acclaimed painters. The artists whose works are featured in this exhibition delve into both the imagery of the circus and its wider cultural connections, exploring popular entertainment as subject matter and a times using it as a tool for cultural critique.

The first modern circus was performed in London in 1768 at Philip Astley’s equestrian school, with the first American incarnation debuting in 1774 in Newport, Rhode Island, with Christopher H. Gardner’s performance of equestrian acts. Between 1850 and 1950, the circus grew to include animal acts, acrobats, and the sideshow, giving rise in the U.S. to Barnum & Bailey’s “Greatest Show on Earth” and the Ringling Brothers Circus, Zirkus Sarrasani and Zirkus Hagenbeck in Germany, the Cirque Fernando (later Medrano) and the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris, and dozens of smaller troupes throughout Europe and the United States.

The rise of the circus was closely tied to the industrialization of the United States and Europe. An increasingly pervasive railroad system enabled touring to small towns as well as large urban centers. The manufacture of circus posters-typically made with woodcut until the 1870s-changed dramatically as widespread use of the technology of lithography enabled poster designers to make more complex and graphically dynamic images in greater quantities. For its audiences, the circus served as both entertainment and education, providing many circus-goers with their first exposure to cultures from around the world, shaping knowledge while simultaneously reinforcing Western rule of, and cultural dominance over, colonized lands.

Alison Chang

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Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 3: Circus

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to a show unlike any other.

How can a circus be held in print? you may ask. Indeed, prepare to be astounded. Here you’ll find tumbling acrobats, unsettling sideshows, ferocious beasts, fantastical costumes, entrancing feats of grace and strength. It’s all contained within these pages, we assure you, but perhaps not in ways you would expect.

Articles

Under the Big Top: John Steuart Curry’s Vision of the Circus

John Steuart Curry’s images of the circus provide us with an insider’s look at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the 1930s.

At the Circus with RISD Graphic Design Students

Professor Jan Baker encouraged her letterpress class to become inspired by the Circus exhibition at the RISD Museum.

Typographic Tightrope: Designing Circus

A look at the graphic-design inspiration and challenges behind Circus.

Related Objects

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

At the Circus: Bareback

James Tissot

Ladies of the Chariots (Ces Dames des Chars)

Henri Matisse

The Nightmare of the White Elephant (Le Cauchemar de l'éléphant blanc)

Max Beckmann

The Negro

Max Pechstein

Somali Dance (Somalitanz)

Max Beckmann

The Barker
  • More objects +

Circus

August 1, 2014 - February 22, 2015
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