Design for advertising poster for The Hippodrome

Design for advertising poster for The Hippodrome
Design for advertising poster for The Hippodrome

Design for advertising poster for The Hippodrome

Date1908
Artist (American painter and illustrator, 1857–1926)
Illustration CitationDesign for advertising poster for The Hippodrome
MediumWatercolor and gouache on paper
Dimensionscomposition: 22 1/4 × 16 1/4 in. (56.5 × 41.3 cm)
sheet: 22 3/4 × 16 3/4 in. (57.8 × 42.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1975
Object number1975-23
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextLouis John Rhead was in the forefront of the American Art Nouveau movement.
The floral motifs and decorative swirls of this poster, designed for a 1908 group of presentations at New York City's Hippodrome Theater, are typical of the Art Nouveau style.

The Hippodrome opened in 1905 at Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets and quickly gained fame for lavish spectacles. The aquatic background in this poster alludes to the Hippodrome's transparent water tank, which could be raised from below the stage for swimming and diving shows such as the macabrely-named but thrilling "Drowning Ballet." Seasonally dressed chorus girls appeared in the Four Seasons stage presentation.

In the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for March 15, 1908, under the heading Amusements, Manhattan, a notice announced “the century’s greatest spectacle,” featuring The Drowning Ballet, the Winter Carnival and The Four Seasons, among other presentations.
The best seats were $1 which would be about $27 today. However, seats could be had for 25 cents in 1908, when a woman office worker make about $30 a month.




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