The Magic Ring

Pavel Fuksa aka jergot+gotroch


Christmas is in the air, time to continue traditions with 
Animalarium's 3rd Annual Circus Extravaganza

Hiroshige III, Big French circus on the grounds of Shokonsha shrine, 1871 

Seymour Chwast

Hans Erni, 1965, thanks to Sandi Vincent

Mai Miturich, The Rainbow Book, 1974, thanks to art.crazed

Peter Spier, 1992

Rafal Oblinski, 1980

Ana Juan

Sara Fanelli

Geraldine Alibeu

Violeta Lopiz

Eric Battut

Ian Falconer, Olivia saves the Circus

Sarah Young

Sacha Poliakova

By the way, while I love illustrated circus animals, 

I was very happy when these news came out!

If you are in the mood for more circus antics, please take a look at these previous posts:

The Circus is in Town, The Circus is Back in Town and Pink Elephants on Parade

Sunday Safari - Gobbling bananas and chatting all day

Illustration by Violeta Lópiz 

Three Monkeys: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, 

1932 New Year's card by Takahashi Haruka, thanks to Aqua-Velvet

Another 1932 New Year's card by Takahashi Haruka, 

thanks to a great post by ephemera assemblyman

Gibbon by Ben Kirchner

Cover of A Monkey Tale by Berta & Elmer Hader, 1929

Cover of The Jungle Twins by Kurt Wiese, 1951

wait a second... I have to trace this one

Love on a limb painting by Charley Harper, 1989

Illustration by Józef Wilkon

Cover of Runaway Monkey by William Eller & Kathleen B. Hester, 1976,

thanks to missdesigndiva's Illustrations I like flickr set

Illustration from The Wild and woolly animal book by Dale Maxey, 1966

thanks again to Bonito Club's flickr illustration collection

Andy Warhol´s Children´s Book, 1983, thanks to gramatologia

Monkey card by Fold at Supermarket

Monkey by Alexander Calder, 1928

Cover of Graphis 192

Detail from A Sensorium by Walton Ford

Sunday Safari – The Circus is in Town

Christmastime in Italy is also Circus time (ok, here everyday is Circus time - 

but that's another story). I have never been a fan of traditional circus animal acts, 

but how could I escape the charm of their colorful and quirky transfiguration into 

a rainbow of shapes, silhouettes and symmetries by imaginative artists across the land?

Two illustrations from the comic book Alex, Il Piccolo fantastico Giocoliere

(Alex, the Amazing Juggler) by Gianni Peg, 1981

Cyrk by Józef Wilkon

Illustration from Wio, Leokadio by Elzbieta Murawska, 1974,

thanks to Ksiazki / Books

Hooggeëerd publiek. Circus in Nederland Toneelmuseum poster,

Amsterdam, 1978, from ReclameArsenaal

Cirque de Moscou sur Glace poster by Henri Galeron, 1990

3 Beagles, Monkey on bicycle, 2 growling tigers, and 2 hugging bears

posters by Wiktor Gorka, 1968–71

Bobinski's Mouse Circus Band, drawings for Coraline by Jon Klassen, 2007

Illustration by Violeta Lopiz, 2007

2 circus posters from bpx' fantastic USSR posters collection on flickr

Sunday Safari – In the Peaceable Kingdom

Lion and fish illustration by Irina Troitskaya

Illustration by Toshiyuki Fukuda

Stuffed lions from Takiyaje, aka Lubov Nalogina

Illustration by Tatsushi Hara, thanks to Stickers and Stuff

Movie poster by Jaroslav Zelenka, 1955, from Terry Posters

Afrika lion by Lisa Larson at Gustavsberg studio, 1968,

from hi+lomodern (sorry - I just saw it's already sold!)

Spacer Iwa, book cover by Miroslaw Tokarczyk, 1973

thanks to tralaloskop's precious archives, and to Kickcan and Conkers for the tip

The Happy Lion by Roger Duvoisin used to be one of my daughters' favorite books

Illustration from Brian Wildsmith's ABC, 1962,

from hunkamunka's Vintage Children's Books set on flickr

Leones by Violeta Lópiz

Anonimous Czech movie poster, 1970, from Terry Posters

Poster from the Save series by Kazumasa Nagai, 2001

and finally, from Un lion à Paris by Beatrice Alemagna, the illustration that inspired this post,

together with the beautiful article about this and other meek lions in Le figure dei libri.