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Down for the Count
Martin Wong1985/1985
Chrysler Museum of Art
Norfolk, United States
The everyday becomes extraordinary in Martin Wong’s Down for the Count. Borrowing heavily from Renaissance depictions of the death of Christ, the work posits tragedy and defeat against the victor’s raw, masculine strength. The heroic boxer appears to be fighting for much more than a simple match. Wong based his theatrical urban scenes on Manhattan’s Lower East Side—then an impoverished, mostly black and Hispanic neighborhood with a thriving artistic community.
2002.26.18
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Details
- Title: Down for the Count
- Creator: Martin Wong
- Creator Lifespan: 1946/1999
- Creator Nationality: American
- Creator Gender: Male
- Creator Death Place: San Francisco, CA
- Creator Birth Place: Portland, OR
- Date: 1985/1985
- Location Created: New York City, NY
- Provenance: Semaphore Gallery, New York, 1985; Joel B. Cooper, Norfolk, Va., 1985-2002; Gift in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper from the family of Joel B. Cooper to Chrysler Museum of Art, 2002.
- Physical Dimensions: 83 x 107 in. (210.8 x 271.8 cm)
- Credit Line: In memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper from the family of Joel B. Cooper
- Type: Painting
- Rights: © Martin Wong courtesy P.P.O.W., N.Y.
- Medium: Acrylic on canvas
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