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
Keywords
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.
Exhibitions
![Sin título [Untitled]](/internal/media/dispatcher/15693/thumbnail)
![Sin titulo [Untitled]](/internal/media/dispatcher/15839/thumbnail)
