An artwork on Galleree from Cleveland Museum of Art.
About the artwork
Wrestlers in a Circus1909
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
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.
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.
oil on canvas
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.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art and Bequest of William R. Valentiner
In a cacophony of sound, the atmosphere was electric. The bright hues of the wrestling mat seemed to pulse with energy, a vibrant canvas beneath the powerful wrestlers locked in a fierce embrace. Each hefty figure twisted and turned, their muscles straining against one another, embodying the raw essence of struggle and tenacity.
The world around them faded into a blur, only the clang of bodies and the roar of the crowd pierced through the air, echoing off the walls. In that moment of conflict, the wrestlers were not just athletes; they became symbols of urban life, vividly explored by the renowned artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. His loose brushstrokes improbably mirrored the chaos and movement of the scene, capturing not just the wrestlers but the very spirit of the audience that surrounded them.
As you watched, the faces of the spectators became a swirling sea of color and emotion, each scream and shout igniting the air with tension. Every flicker of pain, every display of strength was a reminder of the human condition, fraught with struggles and the thrill of competition. In this vivid tableau, Kirchner encapsulated more than just a match; he portrayed the heart-pounding pulse of life itself, refusing to be subdued, forever striving in the dangerous embrace of existence.
About the artist
Creating transformative experiences through art “for the benefit of all the people forever.”The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The artworks shared on this platform are sourced from the museum's Open Access data under the CC0 license. No endorsement is implied.Address: 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, USA 44106
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