Home

Art of the Circus

Extended Showing through November 2006

Discover the magic behind the circus. Explore the different costumes worn for circus performances, including modern costumes from the Ringling Brothers Circus. Investigate the differences between modern and traditional fabrics and see how fabrics and embellishments help performers to create characters with costume.

Contortionist, n.d.
E. Ro (Emil Rothengatter)
Lithograph

Female Jugglers, 1887
E. Ro (Emil Rothengatter)
Watercolor

Clown Juggler, n.d.
E. Ro (Emil Rothengatter)
Watercolor

Clown & Donkey, n.d.
E. Ro (Emil Rothengatter)
Watercolor

The artwork above is by Emil Rothengatter who signed his works "E. Ro" or E. Roe". Born in Germany, Rothengatter was brought to the United States as an infant. He served an apprenticeship in lithography in Philadelphia before moving to New York at age 22 to work for Currier and Ives. He soon quit the company because he was only allowed to draw ladie's heads. By 1880 he appeared in Cinicinnati, which was the center of poster printing at the time. He was working on circus posters when he was commissioned by James A. Bailey to record the birth of the first elephant born in captivity. The images being used in Art of the Circus are but a small sampling of the works of E. Ro in the Hertzberg Collection. They represent designs that were later transformed into circus posters and illustrations and the artist's hand-written notes can been seen on many of the works. Because of the fragile nature of these works on paper, the artwork will be changed out during the course of the exhibit.