Woman on Trapeze
Primary
Karl Zerbe
(Berlin, Germany, 1903–Tallahassee, Florida, 1972)
NationalityAmerican, North America
Date1946
MediumOil and encaustic on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 65 3/4 x 49 1/2 in. (167 x 125.7 cm)
Canvas: 53 1/8 x 37 3/8 in. (135 x 95 cm)
Canvas: 53 1/8 x 37 3/8 in. (135 x 95 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Michener Acquisitions Fund, P1969.7.6
Rights Statement
Collection AreaModern and Contemporary Art
Object numberP1969.7.6
On View
On viewLocations
Label Text- exhibition BMA, Gallery, B2 - Schweitzer Gallery
Inspired by Zerbe’s brief travels with the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1945, Woman on Trapeze raises provocative questions. The intrepid trapeze artist stares beyond the viewer from a bird’s-eye perspective high above the crowd below—so where are we? And why is the young woman’s expression so self-contained while her muscular body practically crashes into the viewer’s own? The acid green and strong contrasts of light and dark give the scene a surreal, even ominous, tone. Although normally a site of family entertainment, this circus vignette presents an unsettling mystery.
![Sin título [Untitled]](/internal/media/dispatcher/15693/thumbnail)
![Sin titulo [Untitled]](/internal/media/dispatcher/15839/thumbnail)
