Three Acrobats on a Unicycle

Chaim Gross, Three Acrobats on a Unicycle, 1957, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chaim and Renee Gross, 1969.172
Copied Chaim Gross, Three Acrobats on a Unicycle, 1957, bronze, 76 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 in. (194.3 x 36.8 x 36.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chaim and Renee Gross, 1969.172

Artwork Details

Title
Three Acrobats on a Unicycle
Artist
Founder
Fonderia Nicci
Date
1957
Location
Dimensions
76 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 in. (194.3 x 36.8 x 36.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Chaim and Renee Gross
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Subjects
  • Performing arts — circus — acrobat
  • Figure group — female
Object Number
1969.172
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1969.172

Artwork Description

Over one quarter of Chaim Gross's sculptures are of acrobats and are based on the itinerant performers he saw as a child. Gross put his figures in nearly impossible physical positions because he believed that stacking more than two on top of one another offered more possibilities for interesting silhouettes and compositions. The stocky, muscular athletes in Three Acrobats on a Unicycle together create the illusion of a spire lifting weightlessly into the air.