Richard Humphreys, the Boxer
John Hoppner
Date unknown · Oil on canvas · European Paintings
Boxing fascinated late eighteenth-century British artists and writers, providing a spectacle that combined violence with beautiful bodies. Humphreys’s manager commissioned this portrait in advance of a celebrated match, and the painting circulated widely in printed reproductions. Hoppner depicted the young boxer on the turf in his defensive stance, wearing breeches, silk stockings, and pumps. Bouts were fought with bare fists at this time, increasing their brutality.
- Artist
- John Hoppner
- Date
- Date unknown
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Department
- European Paintings
- Credit line
- The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment Fund, 1953
