# Wrestlers in a Circus, in Early modernism

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted this in 1909, aged 29. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

From the museum's label:

> 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._

[Read the full label](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/wrestlers-in-a-circus-cma-142792#about-work)

## The work

- 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.)
- Type: Painting
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.49
- Licence: CC0 1.0

## The artist

[Ernst Ludwig Kirchner](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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.

3 works in the collection.

## Walk on

- [More by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/artist/ernst-ludwig-kirchner?hang=749) (3 works)
- [More paintings of the 20th century](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/style/painting-20?hang=749) (75 works)
- [20th-century Germany](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/era/20-germany?hang=749) (6 works)

## Get it

- [Print this work](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/wrestlers-in-a-circus-cma-142792#print)
- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/662.jpg?dl=1
- [The work's page](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/wrestlers-in-a-circus-cma-142792)