Olympia 1930

Laura Knight (1877-1970) was fascinated by the circus and was a regular visitor to Bertram Mills' circuses at Olympia from its early days in the 1920/1921 season. A founder member of the Circus Fans' Association she painted The Grand Parade Charivari that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1929, the same year that she travelled with the Mills/Carmo first tenting circus. She sketched and painted numerous works featuring acts from Bertram Mills’ circuses that were featured in a variety of promotional material for his shows from the early 1930s including VIP luncheon invitation cards.

This may depict one of the Long Tack Sam Chinese acrobats who appeared with The Great Carmo Circus, a partnership between Carmo and Bertram Mills in 1929.