Artwork
Print Collection
Print Collection is a print by Stewart Waghorn. It dates from 1976 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Stewart Waghorn’s 1976 print “Print Collection” shows a tent. He studied architecture, so he cared a lot about the tent’s design.
Waghorn made a set called “Tentmaster” after his own drawings. This one shows Chipperfield’s big top tent. It seated about 2,000 people and had four tall masts.
His prints copy real tent details exactly. Look up the artist Waghorn, Stewart (ARCA).
Overview
Stewart Waghorn’s 1976 print, part of his “Tentmaster” series, depicts the four‑mast Big Top used by the Chipperfield circus. Rendered in a precise, architectural style, the work records the tent’s structural dimensions and decorative scheme, offering a detailed visual record of a mid‑20th‑century travelling circus venue.
Subject & Meaning
The image focuses on the circus tent itself, emphasizing its scale and construction rather than performers or audience. By treating the tent as an architectural object, Waghorn highlights the engineering and design that enable large‑scale public spectacles, underscoring the tent’s role as both shelter and stage.
Technique & Style
Waghorn, trained as an architect, translates his own measured drawings into a print format, preserving exact proportions and color coding. The composition combines line work that outlines the steel lattice masts and pole arrangements with flat areas of blue, red and yellow that represent the canvas and PVC sidewalls, reflecting a technical illustration aesthetic.
History & Provenance
The tent illustrated was manufactured by Stroymeyer of Konstanz, Germany. It measured 120 feet in diameter, featured four prefabricated steel lattice masts in two sections each, and accommodated roughly 2,000 spectators. Its sidewalls stood 13 feet high, with 120 red‑painted poles supporting the yellow and red PVC panels.
Context
Created during a period when travelling circuses were still prominent in European entertainment, the print documents a specific iteration of Chipperfield’s Big Top. The detailed rendering aligns with a broader mid‑century interest in industrial design and the visual documentation of large‑scale structures.
Artist & collection
Artist
English printmaker Stewart Waghorn built bold, graphic compositions in the 1970s.
