Carnival Graces

The circus was a popular subject for many American artists because it combined the exotic with the simple pleasures of the heartland. Based on Cone’s 1935 painting The Side Show, this drawing depicts three African American women performing for a predominantly white, male audience. Although the leg of a fourth woman can be found at the far the right, the work’s title alludes to the Three Graces, the Greek goddesses of charm and beauty. The purpose of the sideshow, and the content of the barker’s pitch to the crowd, remain ambiguous. The voyeuristic crowd ogles the beautiful women, who must have been alluringly unfamiliar in such small rural towns.