Sue Coe's Elephant tales
Reunion of Alice and Jumbo, a painting in progress
The Death of Jumbo
Elephants in Our Midst
Topsy: An Elephant Never Forgets
The text in the finished painting:
Bridgeport, November 20th, 1887. The main building of Barnum's Winter Quarters was entirely destroyed by fire. Thirty elephants and one hippopotamus burst through the side of the building. Six of the elephants were terribly burned, great pieces of flesh fell from their sides, blood spattered the ground. All the ring horses were burned. No effort was made to save any of the big cats. The lions, tigers, hyenas, were all burned in their wooden cages. The howls and moans of the dying beasts were terrible. A lion escaped and was loose on the streets. The elephants dragging their broken chains escaped into the country. Barnum's agents ordered new animals before the flames were out. Alice, Jumbo's 'wife' was killed. The lion was shot the next day.
Barnum's Winter Quarters Burn, 2008. oil on canvas
detail, left foreground