Strong Man, Clown, and Dancer

In his youth Shinn, a native of Woodstown, New Jersey, studied industrial design. He began taking night classes at the Pennsylvania Academy while employed as an illustrator-reporter with various Philadelphia newspapers. Through friendships with fellow illustrators William Glackens, George Luks, and John Sloan, Shinn came under the influence of Robert Henri, who urged them to apply their urban realist vision to painting. The five artists formed the core of the group known as The Eight. Shinn's journalist background colored his early earth-toned images of accidents and fires - stark, unromanticized urban scenes. By the turn of the century, however, his technique and subject matter changed drastically. Captivated by popular theater, Shinn began painting stage scenes with emphasis on the lively milieu and intriguing vantage points. "Strong Man, Clown, and Dancer" appears to be a transitional work, a grittier depiction of performers than his colorful Degas-inspired canvases. Unlike most of his theatrical subjects, which feature attractive women, radiant in the spotlight of respectable vaudeville stages, Shinn placed his figures - possibly carnival performers - in the shadows, either waiting off stage or posing outside the venue to drum up an audience. To heighten the tawdry atmosphere, Shinn emphasized a workaday incongruity, from the dancer's frothy white tutu, black jacket, and macabre makeup to the glaring strong man in his animal skin costume and bowler hat.