prince paul troubetzkoy (1866-1938), the boxer georges carpentier (1894-1975)

Paris, Galeries Georges Petit, Exposition des oeuvres de Paul Troubetzkoy, January 3-15, 1921, no. 4.
Venice, Esposizione internazionale d'arte, April to October 1922

Catologo della tredicesima Esposizione internationale d'Arte a Venezia, 1922, Bergamo, 1922, 123.

The theme of the pugilist has been a popular subject for sculpture since the classical era.  In the early twentieth century, the figure of the boxer gained renewed popularity among modern artists seeking to juxtapose the vigorous, 'natural' body of the athlete with the 'nervous,' unhealthy body formed by industrial or office work.  It was a natural topic for Troubetzkoy, who had already finished several heroic nude figures of athletes, including his 1907-1909 portrait of the opera singer Feodor Chaliapine. His portrait of boxer Georges Carpentier (1894-1975), one of the most famous athletes of the early twentieth century, is a similarly heroic image. Troubetzkoy depicts the fighter in the classical manner, boxing without gloves and almost entirely in the nude.  The manner of representation is appropriate to Carpentier's almost mythical personal history; he turned professional at the unheard of age of fourteen and fought in almost every weight class thereafter.  By 1913, he was heavyweight champion of Europe and his highly successful career as a military aviator during World War I — he was awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille Militaire — only added to his glamour and prestige.  Although Jack Dempsey defeated him in their July 2, 1921 match, it was the first world championship to be broadcast on the radio and added to his fame.  It is perhaps no mistake that Troubetzkoy completed this work in 1921, around the same time that Carpentier was publishing his own theory of boxing as a fine art form in his Ma vie de boxeur (published in English as My Fighting Life, 1920) and Meine Methode des Boxens (published in English as My Methods, or Boxing as a Fine Art).  A 1921 plaster cast of this composition is held by the Museo del Paesaggio, Verbena Pallazia, Italy.