Cultural Event #1: Gallery Talk: Carnival Barkers, Beach Acrobats, and Elephant Acts: Circus Imagery in the Maimon Collection

On Friday, March 16, 2012, I attended Joyce Robinson’s Gallery Talk.  I went into this talk with the mindset it was going to be boring and that I wouldn’t be interested in it at all.  Soon after the talk started, I realized that I was wrong.  Joyce talked about the history of the circus and how artists at one point in time were amused by painting or drawing the circus.  I have never done a project on the circus or research about it so all this information was new to me and intrigued me more than I expected. 

          Have you ever wondered why the circus is a shape of a ring?  When the circus first came about in Europe in the 1800s, it was just a man running on a horse.  The reason why the circus is the shape of a ring is so the centripetal force created when the man goes around prevents the man from falling off the horse.   As the circus evolved over time, there were more features presented in it but the shape remained unchanged.   For example, in the 19^th century, acrobats and elephants became a part of the Circus; however, the elephants that were used in the Circus were female from India because they were said to be the easiest to work with.  The Circus became so popular that by the 1830s circus troops traveled by wagon to different cities.  In this same time period, the Circus became a part of French culture and the main subject portrayed in their art.  This popular event stood out so much because of its rich and vibrant colors, elephants, and enthusiastic acrobats.

          Because the Circus was now integrated to European culture, mostly in France, American artists started to spark in interest in the Circus.  They also started painting visuals of the Circus.  As a matter of fact, an artist name Alexander Calder painted a performance at Madison Square Garden.  Americans were amused by these acrobats, elephants, and craze of the Circus therefore becoming obsessed; soon enough, the Circus became an icon of America as well.  This new icon was so booming that it surprisingly lasted through the Great Depression, although it was very difficult to keep it in business.

          After Joyce Robinson’s talk, I examined some of the works of art the Palmer Museum had a more interested point of view because of the knowledge I had just acquired.  Before, I just walked past these paintings and didn’t think much about it; however, now that I know  the history of the Circus, I am able to appreciate these works of art.