Acrobats 1919

Curator: Lovis Corinth, the artist, captured this frenetic scene. We're looking at "Acrobats," currently held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels…precarious. The figures are so close together, limbs intertwined. You can feel the potential for collapse. Curator: Etching allows for those expressive, almost frantic lines, doesn't it? It speaks to the physical labor involved in the circus act, making visible the pressure and the precariousness of their profession. Editor: Definitely. Circuses had a complicated place in society. It's interesting how Corinth captures that mix of admiration and perhaps exploitation. Curator: The printmaking process itself mirrors this tension—a matrix created through labor, resulting in multiple impressions for public consumption. Editor: It asks, what does it mean to display bodies for spectacle? Curator: Yes! Seeing the means of its making, we are forced to recognize the structures of production and performance behind it. Editor: Exactly. It's a visually striking work, sparking reflection on who gets to look, and at what cost.