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I think I've always had a slight preoccupation with wrestling. Not a prominent one, but it’s always been there, growling gently in the back of my mind. Growing up witnessing the bizarre spandex spectacle of WWF (as it was known then) on Channel 5, with such heroes as Stone Cold Steve Austin and The (now ubiquitous) Rock, must have had some effect, as did the time when I told my friend Karl in assembly that wrestling wasn’t real, and he proceeded to put me in a headlock on the spot. It was very real then. Thanks Karl. Wrestling has been depicted in art for thousands of years. What is the enduring appeal of simulated organised violence? Let me take you through five of my favourite wrestling artworks and we’ll see what the deal is.

5 artworks
Sumo Wrestlers
© the copyright holder. Image credit: Kinloch Castle, Rum (NatureScot)

Sumo Wrestlers

unknown artist

Plaster

H 57 x W 37 x D 20 cm

Kinloch Castle, Rum (NatureScot)

The Moat, Knaresborough (The Battlers)
© the copyright holder. Image credit: The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate

The Moat, Knaresborough (The Battlers)

Joseph Baker Fountain (1907–1992)

Oil on canvas

H 25 x W 18 cm

The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate

A Pair of Wrestlers
Image credit: Wellcome Collection

A Pair of Wrestlers

unknown artist

Watercolour on paper (?)

H 21 x W 31.4 cm

Wellcome Collection

The Wrestler
Image credit: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

The Wrestler c.1945

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915) (posthumous cast)

Bronze

H 63.5 x W 27 x D 45 cm

Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Wrestlers II
© the artist. Image credit: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Wrestlers II 1989

Kevin Sinnott (b.1947)

Oil on cardboard on plywood

H 18.8 x W 18.5 cm

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford