Robert Riggs, Corner #II

Robert Riggs frequently used boxers as his subjects. Going to training gyms, evening bouts, and even dressing rooms, Riggs observed fighters in all aspects of their professional lives. In 1931, he attended an exhibition of George Bellows’s prints of boxers, which inspired him to learn lithography and take up the boxing ring as a subject. Where Bellows sometimes veered into caricature in his depictions, Riggs endowed his subjects with heroism and grit.

In Corner II the boxer braces himself against the ropes of the ring, gaining strength to resume the next round. His hunched, muscular body is draped with his robe, and his face projects a mixture of exhaustion and tenacity. Across the way, a ghoulish line of audience members await the next punch.