The present work was published as an illustration in True Magazine titled "Blondin Crossing Niagara" in 1953. Born Jean-François Gravelet, Charles Blondin was an acrobat famous for crossing Niagara Falls on a single 1,100-foot-long tightrope on June 30, 1859. He performed the stunt several times thereafter and added several variations to the routine, such as crossing while blindfolded, wearing stilts, pushing a wheelbarrow and making an omelet at the halfway mark.
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The panel is flat and stable. A few minor pinpoints of paint loss in the upper register. Under ultraviolet light, no apparent inpainting.
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