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Tri-County Fair by William Phelps Cunningham

Tri-County Fair by William Phelps Cunningham

Tri-County Fair

William Phelps Cunningham

Title

Tri-County Fair

 
Artist

William Phelps Cunningham

  1903 - 1980 (biography)
Year
1933  
Technique
woodengraving 
Image Size
6 3/4 x 7 15/16" image 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
250 
Annotations
pencil tilted, lower left 
Reference
Print-A-Month Club publication in 1933 
Paper
thin, antique-white tissue 
State
published 
Publisher
Print-A-Month Club, Cleveland, OH 
Inventory ID
20828 
Price
SOLD
Description

A classic, dramatic black and white wood engraving of a three county fair in Horton Kansas in 1933. The acrobatic "Five ?omptons" do a balancing act using ladders. Their figures are contrasted against a large dark building in the background. In the foreground is a rapt crowd of working people. The lines that compose the image move from white line to black line, such as in the ladders.

During the Great Depression there was a need for people to escape their ordinary lives, if only for a few minutes. The film industry boomed as did circuses, carnivals and daredevils. This image was published for subscribers by the Print-A-Month Club, Cleveland, Ohio.