Loading
Wrestlers in a Circus
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner1909
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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.
Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
Details
- Title: Wrestlers in a Circus
- Creator: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938)
- Date Created: 1909
- Physical 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.)
- Provenance: Artist’s estate, sold to Grosshennig Gallery, (Galerie Grosshennig, Düsseldorf, Germany, sold to Otto Gerson Gallery), (Otto Gerson Gallery, New York, lent to Grosshennig Gallery on commission), (Galerie Grosshennig, Düsseldorf, Germany, returned unsold to Marlborough-Gerson Gallery), (Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, sold to Allan Frumkin), (Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, NY, sold to E.V. Thaw), (E. V. Thaw, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.49
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Inscriptions: signed lower left: E. L. Kirchner.
- Fun Fact: During the 1930s, 639 works by Kirchner were removed from German museums and either destroyed or sold to foreign collectors and museums. The year after the Nazis organized the Degenerate Art exhibition in Munich, Kirchner committed suicide.
- Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Culture: Germany, 20th century
- Credit Line: Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art and Bequest of William R. Valentiner
- Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
- Accession Number: 1966.49
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
