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Circus Elephants

John Steuart Curry

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Framed size: 15.75 in. (h) x 18.675 in. (w) x 1.125 in. (d)

$1,950.00

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Animals, Blacks and Grays, Curry, Figurative, Framed, Intaglio Print, Landscape, Lithograph, Monochromatic, Pre-War Twentieth Century, Prints & Multiples, Social Commentary and History, Traditional Print

About the work

This lithograph by John Steuart Curry was made from the oil on canvas which is held by the National Gallery of Art. (That webpage is worth looking at for Robert Torchia’s excellent essay about the work.)

Circus Elephants presents 12 elephants standing in a line under a tent, eating hay. Their massive forms diminish as they recede diagonally into the background, interrupted only by two tent stays that lean toward them and divide the space. The various positions of the elephants’ trunks give the scene a sense of gentle undulation. The artist captured the figures and expressions of the two elephants on the right very effectively, with the result that they have a greater sense of individual personality than their companions and seem to converse with one another. The small head of the zebra in the left foreground accentuates the elephants’ enormous bulk.

An example of this print is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Circus Elephants was printed in Life magazine in 1943.

Attributes	Value
Medium	Lithograph, Print
Date	1920-1940
Framing	Custom framed and matted using conservation materials
Signing, Dating, and Titling	Signed, dated, and titled by the artist en recto on bottom
Condition	Excellent Condition
Type	Modern Print-Makers, Old Etchings