What you see: Painters of the Peculiar: A Guide to Sideshow Banner Artists & Their Respective Work, by Michael Papa and Johnny Meah. $24.99. * Does it fit in my purse? I guess it could if I rolled it up, but I wouldn’t want to do that to it. Cut to the chase. Should I buy this book? If…
As a young boy, Eisman immigrated with his family from Europe. His father, who was a sign painter, started Nieman off with painting, which lead him, in 1910, to work for one of the first banner painters to set up a shop in Chicago: Sigmund Bock. After Bock passed away, Eisman worked for United States…
It is hard to talk about Fred Johnson without mentioning that he is the most prolific painter of sideshow banners. Being unclear if that prolific stature came from his art style, body of work, location of studio, or a combination of all of it, he clearly is the most popular name among collectors, or maybe…
If you have found a hand-painted canvas rolled up in a barn, inherited a banner from a family member who worked the carnival circuit, or bought one at an estate sale, the first question is always the same: what is this thing actually worth? The honest answer is that sideshow banner values range from a…
View the original article on Live Auctioneers here. NEW YORK — Handpainted on canvas, vintage circus sideshow banners — some measuring up to 30 feet in width — were designed to titillate and shock circus-goers. A form of on-site advertising, they offered entry (for an additional fee, of course) to view sword swallowers, knife throwers,…