With strong diagonals, sharp angular forms, exaggerated poses, and vibrant color, Max Pechstein captured the electrifying excitement of the moment in this powerful depiction of a circus. This work places viewers in the heart of the ring, closer even than the rows of spectators whose eyes are fixed on the daring acrobats and horses before them. Alongside fellow German artists and collaborators Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) and Erich Heckel (1883–1970), Pechstein explored the energy and expressive movements of skilled acrobats in his circus compositions during the early 1900s. Initially, he portrayed acrobats in drawings and prints, but later turned to large-scale paintings of urban circuses, such as this example.