F re d e r i c k
Whitman Glasier:
CIRCUS
PHOTOGRAPHS
“Glasier’s photographs are not
only extraordinary historical documents of
the circus during its heyday, they are
ultimately about the people themselves.”
—P eter K ayafas ,
Above:
Frederick W. Glasier,
(1866-1950), ca. 1927.
Opposite:
Miss May Lillie, 1908.
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exhibition co - curator
Glasier’s great strength was
as a portraitist, and his photographs reveal an intimate connection with the circus and
sideshow performers. “Glasier’s photographs are not only
extraordinary historical documents of the circus during its
heyday, they are ultimately
about the people themselves,”
said Peter Kayafas, co-curator
of the exhibition and director
of the Eakins Press Foundation.
“His great talent and his unusual personal relationship with
the practitioners of the circus
yielded many intimate, revealing portraits, so that even 100
years later, we feel like we are
in the presence of these amazing people.”
The exhibition is arranged
to chronologically illustrate the
c om
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c t o b e r
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e c e m b e r
event of the circus coming to
town. Lithographic promotional
posters would vividly announce
upcoming performances, with
hyperbolic claims about the
spectacular events soon to
unfold. Examples of these posters are juxtaposed with Glasier’s photographs that document
the arrival of the circus, from
the excitement of parades that
would take over small towns,
to the setup of the massive big
top tent, which could hold more
than 12,000 people.
Glasier photographed circus
performers captured in the midst
of their acts such as the Deike
Sisters, a gymnastic family
known for “contortional cleverness and muscular control in
artistic bending.” He also captured a split-second moment in
2015