NEW ART EXHIBIT AT RINGLING MUSEUM

This unidentified clown was part of the “merry clowns in ludicrous and grotesque antics” on the Walter L. Main, Big Fashion Plate Shows, “an organization in keeping with the century.”
By Susan L. Rife
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The clowns, trapeze artists and acrobats gazing out from the walls of the new wing of the Ringling Museum of Art have had a long and hazardous journey from the dusty small towns of the early 20th century to the air-conditioned comfort of the gallery.
The photographs have been culled from 1,700 glass plate negatives made by Frederick W. Glasier during his years as the official photographer for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Between when they were made in the period between 1890 and
1920 and this week, when 64 images went on display in the Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing, the glass plate negatives were improperly stored and damaged both in transit and while in storage at the museum.
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100516/ARTICLE/5161012/2055/NEWS