Three Acrobats on a Unicycle

Chaim Gross, Fonderia Nicci, Three Acrobats on a Unicycle, 1957, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chaim and Renee Gross, 1969.172

Luce Center Label

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.

Luce Object Quote

"Summer days meant happy times . . . watching the magic circus that came to town once a year. The colorful circus decorations and performances of the acrobats made so deep an impression that it later greatly influenced my work." The artist, in his book The Technique of Wood Sculpture, 1965

Title

Three Acrobats on a Unicycle

Artists

Chaim Gross

Fonderia Nicci

Founder

Fonderia Nicci

Date

1957

Location

Dimensions