Title: Circus Poster
Artist: Anonymous
Year of Publication: c. 1890
Publisher:
Size:
Index Number: 00278

Description:

On August 23, 1782 the heated “race for the sky” culminated with the flight of the world’s first gas balloon in Paris, France. The moment was historic and the impact lasting. This astounding aviation achievement created a lasting impression on French nationalism and “Balloonomania” ensued. Not surprisingly, coupled with this sweeping “Balloonomania” was a French fascination with circus arts: both muddled the distinction between fantasy and reality. Both were also great forms of spectacle and popular entertainment. Both ballooning and circus arts converge in the imagery of this c. 1890 poster as a half dozen balloons float above circus tents and as a circus acrobat uses a balloon instead of trapeze to perform his fetes.

This poster’s featured circus acrobat also depicts a cultural phenomenon in late nineteenth-century France – that of “Free Ballooning,” the art of riding hot air balloons as an extreme sport.

As Tom Crouch explains by the end of the nineteenth century the Free Balloon was not only popular in France, but was “attracting an entirely new class of enthusiasts on two continents.” This leisure sport was not just for any thrill-seeker, however, but was reserved only for those who had the resources to partake in such an expensive and high-status activity:
Founded in 1898 the Aéro Club de France became a favorite gathering place for one of the wealthiest and most fashionable social circles in fin-de-siècle Paris. Ballooning, for over a century the presence of aerial showmen, soldiers, and adventures, now became a sport appearing to wealthy dilettantes.

As Tom Crouch explains, “a short voyage aloft, dangling beneath a colorfully decorated bag of hydrogen” – like the image depicted in this poster – “proved just the ticket for a jaded young man with money in his pocket and a taste for adventure.” Likewise, this poster reminds that while entertainment like the circus and ballooning were sources of cultural fascination throughout France, the level of a Frenchman’s participation was dictated by his social status.

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