Description
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Winter Quarters
Sarasota, Florida circa 1952
Giclée on Watercolor Paper
Image Size 21”x 15”
Artists’s Notes
“I loved the circus! From the ringmaster to the roustabouts, I loved it all! The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus made winter quarters in Sarasota every year from 1927 to 1959, so I always had my fill of the Greatest Show on Earth.”
“I went to the Winter Quarters early one morning to watch the showgirls in rehearsal. They practiced in a worn, unadorned tent with cold lights hanging from the rigging. It was a bare bones rehearsal…the girls wore casual clothes, not costumes, and the choreographer counted out the time to canned music. Between sets, they warmed their hands over oil drum fires until the stage master barked them back to their places. In the eerie light and the tangle of tent poles, I painted as if I was watching a ritual dance in some exotic jungle.”
