Boxers

William H. Johnson, Boxers, 1945-1946, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.652
William H. Johnson, Boxers, 1945-1946, oil on paperboard, 32 7828 78 in. (83.473.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.652

Artwork Details

Title
Boxers
Date
1945-1946
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
32 7828 78 in. (83.473.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group — male
  • African American
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
  • Occupation — sport — boxing
Object Number
1967.59.652

Artwork Description

In Boxers Johnson celebrated Jack Johnson (1878--1946), the first African American to win the world heavy weight boxing title, and Joe Louis (1914--1981), the "Brown Bomber," whose defeat of German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938 was hyped as the triumph of democracy over authoritarian evil. Jack Johnson, the son of formerly enslaved parents, won the title in 1908 and set his sights on Jim Jeffries, a white former heavyweight champion who had refused to fight Black boxers. Johnson's win over Jeffries exhilarated African Americans and infuriated white fans. Johnson's refusal to conform to racial hierarchies led to his 1912 conviction on racially motivated charges that he accompanied a white woman (his future wife) across state lines.   
 
The reserved Joe Louis launched his professional boxing career in 1934. Two years later he faced Schmeling. Although Louis lost, he wanted another go at Schmeling. The rematch, in June 1938, was billed as a battle of ideologies--the American Brown Bomber against Hitler's "master race."  Sixty million Americans listened on the radio; another one hundred million tuned in worldwide. Two minutes into the bout, the referee called a technical knockout. African American Joe Louis had defeated the Nazi's great Aryan hope. Louis went on to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1942. As a soldier, he fought exhibition matches and visited wounded GIs. By the time he was discharged in 1945, he had entertained more than two million soldiers at home and abroad.
 


Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Young Pastry Cook, ca. 1928-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.693
Young Pastry Cook
Dateca. 1928-1930
oil on canvas
On view
William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown with Flat Tire, ca. 1940-1941, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.587
Breakdown with Flat Tire
Dateca. 1940-1941
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, For India and China, ca. 1944-1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.662
For India and China
Dateca. 1944-1945
oil on paperboard
On view

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      Damion Thomas, curator of sports at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, answers the question, “What can this boxing glove tell us about Jack Johnson?” In 1908, Johnson became the first African American to win the heavyweight championship, a title he held until 1915. Drawing from a boxing glove in NMAAHC’s collection, Thomas examines how Johnson’s success had ramifications far beyond the boxing ring.

      Artist William H. Johnson portrayed Jack Johnson in the painting “Boxers,” part of his Fighters for Freedom series in the mid-1940s. The series celebrates African American activists, scientists, teachers, performers as well as international leaders working to bring peace to the world. This video accompanies SAAM’s exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice.

      William H. Johnson, Boxers: americanart.si.edu/artwork/boxers-12622
      Boxing Glove Signed by Jack Johnson: nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2013.115