Behind the Scenes
Artist
Phil Dike
(1906 - 1990)
Datec. 1932
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of the Hilbert Collection
Object number2018.142
DescriptionTraveling circuses regularly made the Los Angeles-area circuit during the first half of the 20th century, and were an extremely popular pastime for L.A. residents. Sections of downtown L.A. still had large tracts of nearly empty land where the roustabouts could set up the circus’s colorful tents and stable their animals. Here, instead of showing the glittering action staged for the public inside the tents, Phil Dike offers a more intimate scene of circus workers behind the scenes, taking a break in the shadows of the tent and the advertising banners – a bit of quiet humanity among the hype and hoopla.On View
Not on view
