Tightrope Dancer

1886-1970

August Wilhelm Dressler

Associated Names
August Wilhelm Dressler

Artist, German, 1886 - 1970

This is a painting of a performer walking a tightrope above a crowd. The central figure is a ballerina-like performer walking confidently across a tightrope, holding a fan in one hand. The backdrop consists of a cityscape illuminated by a crescent moon, with a small cloud in the blue night sky. Below, a crowd of people watches the act, forming a semicircle at the base of a tent. Their expressions range from intrigue to amusement as they gaze upwards or towards each other. Objects on a platform below the tightrope add realism to the spectacle. This artwork is reminiscent of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, capturing the vibrancy of Parisian nightlife.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    color etching and color aquatint printed in grey, blue and brown-green on wove cream paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    plate: 29.7 × 22.7 cm (11 11/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
    sheet: 43.7 × 33 cm (17 3/16 × 13 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.69


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Jörg Maass Kunsthandel, Berlin); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased November 26, 2005; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed below image, at right, in graphite: Aug. Will. Dressler; on verso, in graphite, by later hand: $800; on verso, in black ball-point pen, by later hand: 75-

Wikidata ID

Q76336354

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