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The Hanlons—a family of six brothers from Manchester, England—were one of the world’s premiere performing troupes in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, yet their legacy has been mostly forgotten. In The Hanlon Brothers: From Daredevil Acrobatics to Spectacle Pantomime, 1833–1931, Mark Cosdon carefully documents the careers of this talented family and enumerates their many contributions to modern popular entertainment. The book’s illustrations—including sketches of their performances, studio photographs of the Hanlons, and posters for all three of their major pantomimes—are essential to the understanding of their work. The Hanlon Brothers is painstakingly researched yet accessible and engaging. Cosdon has managed to provide a thorough and engrossing account of the Hanlons’ lives and careers, which will no doubt help to reestablish their legacy in the world of popular entertainment. [editor summary]

The presence of two figures, often a man and a woman, in a shared predicament is a common theme in the work of Max Beckmann. The linked fate of the couple in Aerial acrobats (1928; Fig.37) anticipates the airborne man and woman holding masks in Joumey on the fish (1934; G 403). Gravity as an endangering, but possibly also as a liberating force is another recurring motif in Beckmann's art. He painted his most celebrated image on this theme, Falling man (1950; G 809), in the final year of his life. […]

La gestion du risque, inhérent à toute discipline acrobatique, est elle aussi devenue plus complexe. Pour autant, nous ne voulons pas aborder cette problématique sous l'angle de la sécurité. La question que nous voulons poser avec les participants et le
public est celle du rapport intime de l'artiste au risque. Comment peut-il trouver l'équilibre délicat entre l'acte artistique, la maîtrise de sa technique, la connaissance de son matériel et de ses limites, la conscience de son corps et de ses propres mécanismes psychologiques dans les différentes situations où il est amené à exercer son métier ? [résumé de l'éditeur]