Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Robert Riggs
(American, 1896–1970)
Tumblers
c. 1934
Lithograph on cream wove paper
Image: 14 1/4 x 19 in. (36.2 x 48.3 cm)
Sheet: 18 5/8 x 22 13/16 in. (47.3 x 57.9 cm)
Mat: 24 x 30 in. (61.0 x 76.2 cm)
Sheet: 18 5/8 x 22 13/16 in. (47.3 x 57.9 cm)
Mat: 24 x 30 in. (61.0 x 76.2 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.43
SignedIn graphite, lower right: Robert Riggs.
In stone, lower left: Robert Riggs
InterpretationIn Tumblers, Robert Riggs presents a ring-side view of circus acrobats performing various gymnastic feats. Above, a tumbler balances atop the elevated feet of his powerfully muscled upended partner; on either side, smiling female performers arch gracefully as they execute one-armed handstands. In the middle ground, a gymnast supports his body on one hand as he balances his torso sideways over a table; two others are airborne in somersaults or handstands. In this unconventional figural composition, Riggs celebrates the athletic body in different positions. This amazing display of agility is framed in the foreground by onlookers, fellow performers who include a clown and a tall man in a top hat (presumably on stilts) on the left, and, at right, a woman in a short-skirted costume and figures in sailor outfits with incongruous pig heads, holding string instruments. Musicians seated on risers are partially visible at the upper right. Supremely skilled at realistically modeling individual figures, Riggs also excelled in rendering light effects ranging from the glare of three spotlights to the ambient murkiness enveloping the audience, barely discernable in the background. The artist used a subtractive method of drawing on the lithographic stone: he completely blackened the surface with litho crayon and tusche; then, using a razor blade, he scratched away patches of dark to modulate lighter tones and highlights.
Riggs took up printmaking after seeing the vigorously drawn lithographs of George Bellows, who pictured another kind of public spectacle in his Billy Sunday (TF 1995.13). An avid fan of circus entertainment from boyhood, Riggs created fifteen lithographs inspired by circus subjects between June 1933 and early 1935, including this print and Elephant Act (TF 1996.42). Both were printed by master printer George C. Miller. In 1936, Tumblers was shown at the second biennial exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and in the annual Philadelphia Print Club exhibition.
Riggs took up printmaking after seeing the vigorously drawn lithographs of George Bellows, who pictured another kind of public spectacle in his Billy Sunday (TF 1995.13). An avid fan of circus entertainment from boyhood, Riggs created fifteen lithographs inspired by circus subjects between June 1933 and early 1935, including this print and Elephant Act (TF 1996.42). Both were printed by master printer George C. Miller. In 1936, Tumblers was shown at the second biennial exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and in the annual Philadelphia Print Club exhibition.
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940),Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840–1940),Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]
Adams, Clinton. American Lithographers 1900–1960: The Artists and their Printers. Albuquerque, New Mexico: The University of New Mexico Press, 1983. Text p. 94; fig. 61, p. 98 (black & white).
Bassham, Ben. The Lithographs of Robert Riggs With a Catalogue Raisonné. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Art Alliance Press, 1986. No. 54, pp. 81–82.
Graphic Excursions: American Prints in Black and White, 1900–1915: Selections from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams. (exh. cat., American Federation of Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: D. R. Godine in association with The American Federation of Arts, 1991. Ill. cat. no. 67.
Gustafson, Donna. Images from the World Between: The Circus in 20th Century American Art. (exh. cat., American Federation of Arts). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2001. Fig. 68.
Bassham, Ben. The Lithographs of Robert Riggs With a Catalogue Raisonné. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Art Alliance Press, 1986. No. 54, pp. 81–82.
Graphic Excursions: American Prints in Black and White, 1900–1915: Selections from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams. (exh. cat., American Federation of Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: D. R. Godine in association with The American Federation of Arts, 1991. Ill. cat. no. 67.
Gustafson, Donna. Images from the World Between: The Circus in 20th Century American Art. (exh. cat., American Federation of Arts). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2001. Fig. 68.