Mark Beard (born 1956)
The Boxers
signed with pseudonym 'B Sargent' (upper left)
oil on canvas
43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm.)
Painted in 1995.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Wilson H. Foote, Jr. (1940-2020), New York.
By descent from the above to the present owner, husband of the above, December 2020.

According to the artist, the present work is one of the first works that he painted under the pseudonym Bruce Sargent (1898-1938). The Boxers is a double portrait of the same model, an actor named Patrick who has since returned to his native Great Britain. (unpublished letter, September 18, 2021)

The canvas is unlined and retains its original stretchers. The paint surface is dirty. There is minor frame abrasion visible along the extreme edges. There are several spots of surface accretion and a several pindots of loss at center left in the figure's white shirt. Upon inspection under ultraviolet light, the varnish fluoresces slightly unevenly. There is an approximately 1 1/4 in. horizontal, thin line of inpainting at lower center and scattered pindots of inpainting at lower left on and around the figure's true right knee and leg.