The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

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
lithograph
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.)
Gift of Sean Murphy in memory of his parents, Cecil Buller and John Murphy 2013.413
Location: Not on view

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.
  • artist; artist's son, Sean B. Murphy; CMA
  • Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900–1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Burlesque Show/Ladies of the Burlesque|url=false|author=Cecil Buller|year=1932|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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