Wrestlers in a Circus1909
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. More about this work
About this work
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.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
German, 1880–1938
Kirchner studied architecture in Dresden, where in 1905 he co-founded Die Brücke with fellow students, seeking a raw, direct art of bright, unmixed colour and angular forms. After moving to Berlin in 1911 he painted the city’s streets and nightlife with nervous intensity. Military service in the First World War led to a breakdown, and from 1917 he lived in the Swiss mountains near Davos, painting the Alpine landscape. In 1937 the Nazis condemned his work as degenerate.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1966.49
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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