First Round Knockout 1938

This lithograph by Joseph Webster Golinkin plunges us into the heart of a boxing match, somewhere in the first half of the 20th century. I feel for Golinkin, trying to capture the dynamism of bodies in motion with lithographic crayon. The dense hatching is amazing: see how the artist renders each face in the crowd distinctively. The drama of the fight comes through, but it’s also strangely intimate. I can imagine him, leaning over the stone, trying to get at the feeling of watching these guys, one up, one down. Did he feel something for them? Did he admire their power? Was he just fascinated by the sheer spectacle? Maybe a little bit of all three. You see this kind of energy in other artists who were trying to make sense of bodies, like George Bellows. Artists, always looking at each other, pushing and pulling. This print is more than just an image; it's a feeling frozen in time.