Artwork Page for Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque

Details / Information for Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque

Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque

1932

Cecil Buller

(Canadian, 1886–1973)
Culture
Canada, 20th century
Medium
lithograph
Support
Chine collé on sheet on Arches wove paper
Measurements
Platemark: 47 x 36.8 cm (18 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.); Sheet: 66.7 x 50.2 cm (26 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.); Image: 45.2 x 34.8 cm (17 13/16 x 13 11/16 in.); Matted: 71 x 55.7 x 0.3 cm (27 15/16 x 21 15/16 x 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Sean Murphy in memory of his parents, Cecil Buller and John Murphy 2013.413
Impression
30
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

By the 1920s, burlesque shows were popular in American cities, featuring comedy acts, skits, songs, and a striptease.

Description

Shown with simplified features and enhanced by the harsh spotlighting of the stage, the three scantily clad burlesque dancers appear more like sculptures than flesh and bone. Cecil Buller made the visual comparison explicit by placing a caryatid, or sculptural column in the form of a woman, behind the stage. Such architectural extravagances were typical of the grand theaters of the era.
Print in black ink of three angular burlesque dancers on a stage, with accentuated hips and thighs, shaded in high contrast. They wear underwear and strapless bras, except the central dancer who wears no bra at all and faces away towards a caryatid, a column carved to resemble a woman, in the background. The two dancers flanking her face us and the audience down below, who are looking up at the dancers.

Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque

1932

Cecil Buller

(Canadian, 1886–1973)
Canada, 20th century

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