Ill-Fated Toreador

Eugenie Gershoy, Ill-Fated Toreador, ca. 1935-1939, polychromed dextrine on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.31
Copied Eugenie Gershoy, Ill-Fated Toreador, ca. 1935-1939, polychromed dextrine on wood, 20 x 10 1⁄8 x 13 5⁄8 in. (50.8 x 25.6 x 34.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.31

Artwork Details

Title
Ill-Fated Toreador
Artist
Date
ca. 1935-1939
Location
Dimensions
20 x 10 1⁄8 x 13 5⁄8 in. (50.8 x 25.6 x 34.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from General Services Administration
Mediums
Mediums Description
polychromed dextrine on wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure male — full length
  • Animal — cattle
  • State of being — other — accident
  • Dress — costume — matador costume
  • New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — New York City
  • Occupation — sport — bullfighting
Object Number
1971.447.31
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1971.447.31

Artwork Description

During the late 1930s, Eugenie Gershoy began working for the Works Progress Administration in New York. A friend of hers, the artist Max Spivak, was designing a series of murals for a children’s library in Astoria, Long Island. Gershoy decided to create colorful figurines to go along with Spivak’s paintings. These sculptures depicted circus characters posed in a variety of impossible feats, including the figures in Ill-Fated Toreador, who dangles precariously from a bull’s horn, and The Very Strong Man, who lifts an elephant above his head while balancing on one toe. The library was so pleased with the work of Gershoy and Spivak, they rebuilt the space into an oval to emphasize the circus setting.