
Read the visual description
This is a painting depicting a bare-knuckle boxing match with two fighters in a ring surrounded by a crowd. Both fighters are men with light skin, and they wear no shirts. The fighter on the left wears orange pants with black dots, while the fighter on the right wears red pants with white dots. Behind these men are two other shirtless men wearing the same types of pants, as well as two other men wearing more formal attire, including jackets, vests, and hats. Outside the ring, a semi-circle of light-skinned men in formal attire watch the central fight. The setting is outdoors, with grass around the feet of the spectators and green hills in the background. Above the group, the sky is light gray.
National Gallery of Art · Painting
Bare Knuckles
George A. Hayes
- Date
- c. 1870/1885
- Medium
- oil on paperboard on wood
- Dimensions
- overall: 30.5 x 48.6 cm (12 x 19 1/8 in.)
- Classification
- Painting
- Accession number
- 1980.62.9
- Credit line
- Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
- Time span
- 1851 to 1875
- Department
- CAB
Subjects and terms
- painted surface
- American
- sports
- genre
- Boxing
- American Naive Paintings
- Naive
Provenance
Recorded as from New York. (Henry W. Cowan, Troy, New York), by whom sold in 1953 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; by bequest to NGA, 1980.
Inscription
lower left: GEO. A. HAYES.
NGA object ID 59902. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.