Circus Elephants

Artist: John Steuart Curry (American, 1897–1946)

Original Dimensions: 25 3/16" x 36 1/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

About Artwork:  (1932) "John Steuart Curry, an American regionalist from Kansas, painted the popular Circus Elephants in 1932 in his Westport, Connecticut, studio. For three months during the spring of that year Curry accompanied the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on its tour of New England. The resulting sketches served as the basis for a number of important paintings and lithographs. The artist explained in a radio interview that while he was attracted to the elephants’ remarkable bulk, he was particularly fascinated with “those shining beady eyes” and thought it was “a little disconcerting to see this brilliant animation in such a massive form.” Curry compared them to the eyes of the far less exotic barnyard pig, commenting: “You don't see the eye at first but then suddenly you become conscious of its gleaming presence buried in the shadow of the ear.” When Circus Elephants was illustrated in Life in 1943, the caption praised Curry for his success in conveying “a feeling of balance, movement and bulk, one of the most difficult jobs he ever tackled.”" - (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.)