About this artwork
The German photographer Umbo, capitalizing on the hunger for images provoked by the rise of illustrated magazines, produced this photograph to accompany an article about a circus school in Berlin. At once candid and composed, the image presents a moment behind the scenes: two sitting women with fashionable short-cropped hair, accompanied by a standing male companion who reaches forward to light a cigarette. So steady is his posture that it would be easy to miss the roller skates on his feet. The caption that accompanied the image read: “This is what a performing arts school looks like. Cold rooms—a place for precise, tiring work.”
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
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Title
- Circus Performers’ Rehearsal (Artistenprobe)
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Place
- Germany (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1929–1930
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Dimensions
- Image/paper: 18 × 23.9 cm (7 1/8 × 9 7/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Ada Turnbull Hertle Fund; Wirt D. Walker Trust; Gladys N. Anderson, the Mary and Leigh Block Endowment, and Centennial Major Acquisitions Income funds; partial gift of Herbert and Barbara Molderings
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Reference Number
- 2016.225
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
