Barthé, a prominent figurative sculptor of primarily Black figures throughout the mid-twentieth century, produced Boxer from memory. While the sculpture’s title renders its subject anonymous, this work commemorates the physique and skill of Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo (1910–1988), the successful Cuban lightweight prizefighter whose pejorative nickname was "Kid Chocolate." Barthé, who recalled the boxer "moved like a ballet dancer," depicted Montalvo twisting and turning simultaneously in two directions while perched high on the balls of his feet. Thinned limbs and overall elongated proportions effectively convey, and even enhance, the implied agility of this athlete. Barthé alludes to his own identity as a gay man in the sensuous Boxer, using the nude male in motion as a conduit for self-expression during a time of circumspection.
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Inscription: Signed (top of base, back right, etched in bronze): BARTHÉ
the artist, New York (1942; sold to MMA)
New York. Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies, Whitelaw Reid Mansion. "Sculpture: Hoffman, Barthe, Savage, Catlett-White," September 18, 1942, no catalogue (possibly this edition) [one-day exhibition sponsored by the National Urban League Guild].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," December 7, 1942–February 22, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 22; awarded a Sixth Prize).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," March 8–May 10, 1943, no catalogue.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," May 22–June 19, 1943, no catalogue.
Nashville. Carl Van Vechten Gallery, Fisk University. "22nd Festival of Music and Art: Metropolitan Museum of Art Loan Exhibition," April 20–August 15, 1951, no catalogue.
Atlanta University. "22nd Festival of Music and Art: Metropolitan Museum of Art Loan Exhibition," September 1, 1951–January 30, 1952, no catalogue.
New Orleans. Dillard University. "22nd Festival of Music and Art: Metropolitan Museum of Art Loan Exhibition," February 1–April 30, 1952, no catalogue.
New York. National Art Museum of Sport, Madison Square Garden Center, Gallery of Art. "The Artist and the Sportsman," April 18–June 16, 1968, unnumbered cat. (p. 21).
Springfield. Illinois State Museum. "Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1820–1945," October 30–December 12, 1971, no. 54.
Champaign. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois. "Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1820–1945," February 6–27, 1972, no. 54.
Peoria, Ill. Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences. "Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1820–1945," March 10–April 16, 1972, no. 54.
Chicago Historical Society. "Painters and Sculptors in Illinois 1820–1945," April 26–June 24, 1972, no. 54.
Brooklyn. Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. "Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 14–June 14, 1976, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Two Centuries of Black American Art," September 30–November 21, 1976, no. 110.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Two Centuries of Black American Art," January 8–February 20, 1977, no. 110.
Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas. "Two Centuries of Black American Art," March 30–May 15, 1977, no. 110.
Brooklyn Museum. "Two Centuries of Black American Art," June 25–August 21, 1977 (extended to September 5, 1977), no. 110.
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, The Arsenal. "Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 7–March 30, 1979, no catalogue.
Jamaica, N.Y. Jamaica Arts Center. "Afro-American Art in the 20th Century: Three Episodes," January 15–March 8, 1980, unnumbered cat.
Bronx Museum of the Arts. "Afro-American Art in the 20th Century: Three Episodes," March 19–May 30, 1980, unnumbered cat.
Chicago. Museum of Science and Industry. "Choosing: An Exhibit of Changing Perspectives in Modern Art and Art Criticism by Black Americans, 1925–1985," February 1–March 2, 1986, no. 3.
Pleasantville, N. Y. Reader's Digest. "Faces and Figures: Selected Works by Black Artists from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 12–April 1, 1988, brochure no. 3.
Indianapolis. National Art Museum of Sport. "Sport in Art from American Museums," January 13–April 20, 1991, no. 44.
Phoenix Art Museum. "Sport in Art from American Museums," June 1–July 28, 1991, no. 44.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Sport in Art from American Museums," September 21–December 8, 1991, no. 44.
Youngstown, Ohio. Butler Institute of American Art. "The Artist at Ringside," March 29–May 10, 1992, unnumbered cat. (p. 75).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory," October 1, 1996–January 12, 1997, extended to January 22, 1997, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Human Figure in Transition, 1900–1945: American Sculpture from the Museum's Collection," April 15–September 28, 1997, extended to March 29, 1998, unnum. brochure.
New York. Studio Museum in Harlem. "Challenge of the Modern: African-American Artists 1925–1945," January 23–March 30, 2003, no. 7 (as "The Boxer").
Paris. Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. "The Color Line. Les artistes africains-américains et la ségrégation," October 4, 2016–January 15, 2017, unnumbered cat. (p. 145).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "On the Ropes: Vintage Boxing Cards from the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection," July 2–October 21, 2018, no catalogue.
A. Hyatt Mayor. Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. A Picture Book of the Prize Winners. New York, 1942, unpaginated, ill.
"Artists for Victory Score Victory in Metropolitan Exhibition." Art Digest 17 (December 15, 1942), p. 7.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Artists for Victory: Afterthoughts on the Huge Nation-Wide Survey at the Metropolitan Museum." New York Times (December 20, 1942), p. X9.
"Record Art Show Has $52,000 Prizes." New York Times (December 8, 1942), p. 30.
"Wins Art Fame; Credits Pastor For His Success." Tablet (December 26, 1942), p. 16.
"Barthe Congratulated on Winning $500 Art Award." New York Age (December 19, 1942), p. 10.
"Wins Art Fame." Catholic World in Pictures (December 21, 1942), unpaginated.
Rosamund Frost. "Artists for Victory: Sculpture." Art News 41 (January 1–14, 1943), p. 15, ill.
"Survey of the Month." Opportunity 21 (January 1943), p. 18, ill.
James A. Porter. "Negro Artists Gain Recognition After Long Battle." Pittsburgh Courier (July 29, 1950), ill. p. 9, dates it 1943.
"Themes in Sculpture: Sports." National Sculpture Review 3 (Summer 1954), ill. p. 13.
Albert TenEyck Gardner. American Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1965, pp. 174–75, ill.
Martha B. Scott. The Artist and the Sportsman. Exh. cat., National Art Museum of Sport, Madison Square Garden Center, Gallery of Art. New York, 1968, pp. 20, 91, ill. p. 21.
Lowery S. Sims. Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. [New York], 1976, unpaginated.
Leonard Simon in David C. Driskell. Two Centuries of Black American Art. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1976, p. 158, no. 110, ill.
John A. Williams. "Black American Art: A Bicentennial in Brooklyn." Sunday News Magazine (New York, N.Y.) (June 19, 1977), p. 22.
Jeanne Paris. "Art Review: A Social Awareness." Newsday (February 1, 1980), p. B17, ill.
Lowery Sims. "The Metropolitan: Collecting Black Art." Routes Magazine 3 (May 1980), p. 24.
Elsa Honig Fine. The Afro-American Artist: A Search for Identity. (1st ed., 1973). New York, 1982, pp. 97, 129–30, 132–33, fig. 133, dates it 1943.
Allan M. Gordon inChoosing: An Exhibit of Changing Perspectives in Modern Art and Art Criticism by Black Americans, 1925–1985. Ed. Arna Alexander Bontemps. Exh. cat., Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Washington, D.C., 1986, pp. 38–39, 132, no. 3.
Lowery S. Sims. Faces and Figures: Selected Works by Black Artists from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. brochure, Reader's Digest, Pleasantville, N.Y. 1988, unpaginated, no. 3.
Philippe de Montebello inSport in Art from American Museums: The Director's Choice: Inaugural Exhibition of the National Art Museum of Sport. Ed. Reilly Rhodes. Exh. cat., National Art Museum of Sport, Indianapolis. New York, 1990, pp. 92–93, no. 44, ill. (color).
James A. Porter. Modern Negro Art. (1st ed., 1943). Washington, D. C., 1992, p. 127, ill. p. 251.
"An African American Profile." Dayton Daily News (February 24, 1993), p. 3D.
Margaret Rose Vendryes. "Expression and Repression of Identity: Race, Religion and Sexuality in the Art of American Sculptor Richmond Barthé." PhD diss., Princeton University, 1997, pp. 365–67, 379–85, 387, figs. 3.68 and 3.76 (front and back views), notes that in earlier stages of the plaster model, Barthé dressed the figure in briefs without gloves and applied a high-gloss black paint to the surface; incorrectly dates the work 1940 in caption.
Andrea D. Barnwell and Kirsten P. Buick. "A Portfolio of Works by African American Artists Continuing the Dialogue: A Work in Progress." Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 24, no. 2 (1999), p. 184.
Andrea D. Barnwell in "A Portfolio of Works by African American Artists Continuing the Dialogue: A Work in Progress." Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 24, no. 2 (1999), p. 200, no. 11, ill. p. 201 (color; Art Institute of Chicago edition).
Milly Heyd. Mutual Reflections: Jews and Blacks in American Art. New Brunswick, N.J., 1999, pp. 187, 236 n. 25, fig. 102.
Marianne Beatrice Kinkel. Circulating Race: Malvina Hoffman and the Field Museum's Races of Mankind Sculptures. PhD diss., University of Texas at Austin. Austin, 2001, pp. 203–4, 249 n. 63, discusses Exh. New York 1942, which was shown alongside an exhibition of work by Malvina Hoffmann titled "Men of the World".
Samella Lewis. African American Art and Artists. 3rd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1978; 2nd rev. ed., 1990). Berkeley, 2003, p. 86, dates it 1943.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, p. 15.
Lowery Stokes Sims. Challenge of the Modern: African-American Artists 1925–1945. Exh. cat., Studio Museum in Harlem. Vol. 1, New York, 2003, pp. 69, 115, no. 7, ill. p. 76 (color).
Mari Womack. Sport as Symbol: Images of the Athlete in Art, Literature and Song. Jefferson, N.C., 2003, pp. 116–17, ill.
Margaret Rose Vendryes. Barthé: A Life in Sculpture. Jackson, Miss., 2008, pp. 110–16, fig. 4.11 (color), on its inclusion in Exh. New York 1942, notes "it was a fitting metaphor for the United States as the young and agile contender belatedly entering World War II"; notes that the sculpture evolved from an earlier statuette titled "Marathon Runner" (also called "The Wrestler"), inspired by Joe Louis and Max Schmeling and likely modeled from "Tiger Mack" Way, who was a bouncer at The Savoy Ballroom in 1938.
Sarah E. Kelly. "Catalogue: Richmond Barthé (1901–1989)." American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago From World War I to 1955. Chicago, 2009, pp. 285–86, states that this work was inspired by the artist's having seen the featherweight boxer Kid Chocolate (Eligio Sardinias).
Samella Lewis. Barthé: His Life in Art. Los Angeles, 2009, pp. 13, 66, ill. p. 15, erroneously locates additional casts of this work in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts collections.
Marianne Kinkel. Races of Mankind: The Sculptures of Malvina Hoffman. Urbana, Ill., 2011, pp. 153–54, 236 n. 43, discusses Exh. New York 1942.
Margaret Rose Vendryes. "Young, Gifted, and Black Between the Wars: Richmond Barthé's Manhattan Years." Sculpture Review 60 (Spring 2011), ill. p. 26, dates it 1938.
Jordana Moore Saggese. Reading Basquiat: Exploring Ambivalence in American Art. Berkeley, 2014, p. 26, fig. 2 (Art Institute of Chicago edition).
Gregory Woods. Homintern: How Gay Culture Liberated the Modern World. New Haven, Conn., 2016, p. 268, calls it "The Boxer" and incorrectly states MMA purchased the work in 1943.
Matthew Taylor. "Conflict and Accommodation." A Cultural History of Sport in the Modern Age. Ed. Stephen A. Riess. London, 2021, pp. X, 137, fig. 5.2 (Art Institute of Chicago edition).
James Smalls inThe Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Ed. Denise Murrell. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2024, pp. 92–93, 116, 313 n. 47, fig. 76 (color), colorpl. 61.
Darryl Pinckney. "'Who Shall Describe Beauty?'." New York Review of Books 71 (May 9, 2024), p. 20.
The original model of this work in plaster was executed in July 1941. It was cast into bronze in November 1942 by the Cellini Bronze Works Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Assistant Curator Allison Rudnick provides an overview of On the Ropes, the first exhibition of the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection to showcase the boxing cards, which feature some of the most celebrated boxers of the last two centuries.
John R. Morgan (American (born Guatemala), Guatemala City 1903–1986)
1936
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