Prize Fight

Artist Mahonri Mackintosh Young (American, 1877-1957)

Dateca. 1920-1935

Mediumetching

Dimensionsimage: 8 × 12 in. (20.3 × 30.5 cm)
sheet: 9 7/16 × 14 in. (24 × 35.6 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of an anonymous donor

Exhibition History"At Work and Play," KIA Long Gallery (Apr. 1 - July 22, 2005).Label TextBorn in Utah as a grandson of Brigham Young, Mahonri Young’s early life was shaped by his family’s participation in Mormonism, and his later career as an artist was also bolstered by the many commissions he received from the LDS Church. Nonetheless, today he may be best known for his paintings, prints, and sculptures of boxers, a subject that he first explored while studying in Paris in 1901-5. While other American chroniclers of the boxing ring like Thomas Eakins, George Bellows, and George Luks (the latter two of whom were, like Young, students of Robert Henri at the Art Students League in New York City) focused on the pageantry, spectacle, or violence of prizefights, Young seems instead to concentrate on the rhythmic, dance-like interactions between pugilists. Muscled but lanky, his fighters hurl themselves to and fro with a coordinated intensity. Though he eventually established notable friendships with famous fighters , including World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, Young’s works typically focused on everyday people, and it is therefore unsurprising that most of his boxers are not famous champions but generic figures. Consequently, the subjects of these works are less particular fights, fighters, or venues (like Bellows’ depictions of world championship bouts and crowded and intense underground matches) so much as the physicality and beauty of the sport itself.

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