Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art and Bequest of William R. Valentiner · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Germany, 20th century · 1909
Wrestlers in a Circus
- Date
- 1909
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 107.5 x 121 x 7 cm (42 5/16 x 47 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 80.5 x 94 cm (31 11/16 x 37 in.)
- Country / context
- Germany
- Movement / tradition
- Expressionism · Source ↗
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- European and American art ↗
FROM THE MUSEUM
Locked in a dangerous embrace, beefy wrestlers writhe on a brightly colored mat. Famous for his scenes of urban life, Kirchner uses loose brushstrokes to capture the blur of bodies in motion. Imagine watching this intense match, surrounded by screaming spectators.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
