The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 5, 2021

Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque

1932

Cecil Buller

(Canadian, 1886-1973)

Canada, 20th century

Lithograph

Support: Chine collé on sheet on Arches wove paper

Image: 45.2 x 34.9 cm (17 13/16 x 13 3/4 in.); Secondary Support: 66.5 x 50.2 cm (26 3/16 x 19 3/4 in.)

Gift of Sean Murphy in memory of his parents, Cecil Buller and John Murphy 2013.413

Impression: 30

Location

101A Prints & Drawings

Fun Fact

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.

Inscriptions

Inscription

On sheet between chine collé and seconary support: lower left, in graphite: 30/30 and lower right, in graphite: Cecil Buller and registration marks in graphite in each of the four corners

Provenance
artist; artist's son, Sean B. Murphy; CMA
Exhibition history

Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.413