Before the Act

A circus performer in a plumed headdress and fur-trimmed, sleeveless costume with dark tights stands beside a spotted horse, one hand raised holding a riding crop and the other resting on the horse's bridle; a striped big-top tent and a pole fill the background. Rendered entirely in gray-black lithographic crayon strokes on cream paper, with visible cross-hatching in the tent canopy and shading on the horse's coat. Yasuo Kuniyoshi, *Before the Act*, 1932, lithograph, signed and dated in pencil at lower right.