# Wrestlers in a Circus

- By: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938)
- Date: 1909
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- 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.)
- Culture: Germany, 20th century
- Credit line: Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art and Bequest of William R. Valentiner
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.49)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.49/1966.49_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.