Manns, Willy | The Death Ride

Manns, Willy

Circus Corty-Althoff. Der Todesritt. Hamburg: Lith. Adolph Friedländer, ca. 1903 (no. 2773) 

Color lithograph poster (26 3/4 x 36 1/2 in.; 680 x 927 mm). Light fold creases. Matted, framed, and glazed with Plexiglas.

A striking poster from the heyday of Germany's Circus Corty-Althoff, one of the largest circuses in Europe at the fin de siècle, depicting a daredevil rider jumping an obstacle while both he and his mount are blindfolded. According to other Friedländer promotional posters, Willy Manns also performed in an elephant act.

REFERENCE:

Exemplars, pp. 140–41