Monday, April 16, 2012

Flying Through the Air

The astonishing collection of memorabilia at Circusmuseum.nl includes nearly 8,000 posters from 1880 to the present. Here is a tiny taste of the acrobats and aerialists.


The Leo-Tardy, 1904

The collection was amassed by circus enthusiast and scholar, Jaap Best. 3,500 lithographs by German printer Adolph Friedländer (including the above poster of The Leo-Tardy) form the core of the collection.

Jules Léotard, by the way, not only pioneered the art of trapeze (after getting a law degree), and popularized the one-piece bodysuit, but he was the inspiration for the song  "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze."


Braun & Braun, 1919


Andys Troupe, 1924


The Trio Hinode, 1905


The Three Cour's, 1911


The Urmann's, 1926


Circus Busch, Famille Frediani, 1910


The Four Flying Chinese's of the Royal Troupe 
Lijen-Chaisan, 1907



The Okabe Family, 1909


Blumenfeld's Luft Sensationen, 1925


Hegelmann-Troupe, 1913


Cirque des Frères Bouglione, 1951



Bertram Mills Circus at Oympia, 1938


Kerst Circus, 1996


Circus Barlay, 1960


1988


Bureau, 1951


Cyrk Wielki, 1971


Amar, 1960

3 comments:

  1. great posters! but the link doesn't seem to work...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the heads up on the link. It should work now.--L

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