---
title: New Book Throws Jab at Art of Black Boxers
date: 2024-08-30T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/book-throws-jab-at-art-of-black-boxers"
section: Articles
---
# New Book Throws Jab at Art of Black Boxers

*August 30, 2024* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Researcher Reveals How Stereotypes Were Reinforced

*MT feature template 1920x1080 1 — Art history Professor Jordana Moore Saggese argues in her new book that in representations of Black boxers, “we can find lurking in these images the blueprint for our conceptions of the Black male body as existing somewhere between fear and fantasy, simultaneously an object of desire and an instrument of brutal violence.”*

In George Bellows’ famous 1909 painting, “Both Members of This Club,” two prizefighters—one white, one Black—are locked in an intense struggle. The Black boxer looks to be winning, his powerful back curving over his white opponent, whose face and arms drip blood.

Though many art historians and critics have considered the artwork a daring representation of a victorious Black fighter, a new book out Friday by Jordana Moore Saggese argues that the painting—whose original title contained a racist slur—reflects widespread fears about Black people.


*Jordana Moore Saggese headshot — Courtesy of Jordana Moore Saggese*


*"Heavyweight" book — Courtesy of Duke University Press*




**Topics:** [Arts & Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture)


**Tags:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/athletics-tag), [Books](https://today.umd.edu/topic/books), [Visual Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/visual-arts), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities)