The Art of Entertainment

In this book, theatre historian Jason Price looks at the relationships and exchanges that took place between high and low cultural forms in Britain from 1880 to 1940, focusing on the ways in which figures from popular entertainments, such as music hall serio-comics, clowns, and circus acrobats, came to feature in modern works of art. Readers with an interest in art, theatre, and the history of modern Britain will find Price's approach, which sees major works of art used to illuminate the histories of once-famous entertainers and the wider social, political, and cultural landscape of this period, accessible and engaging. The book will bring to life for readers some of the most vivid works of modern British art and reveal how individuals historically overlooked due to their gender, sexuality, or race played a significant role in the shaping of British culture during this period of monumental social change.

Jason Price is Reader in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. He is a theatre historian, teacher, and art lover.

1. Setting the Stage: Modernism and the Popular 2. Manipulating the Public Gaze: Minnie Cunningham the Entertainer, Artist's Muse, and Victorian New Woman 3. Modern Daredevil: Therese Lessore's Paintings of Swallow's Circus at the Royal Agricultural Hall 4. Matters of Display and Consent: The Human Exhibit and Goscombe John's Bokane 5. (Un)popular Queer Figures: Glyn Philpot's Knowing Acrobats 6. Historical Illusionisms and Acts of Recovery