About Robert Riggs

  • Biography

    Known for his paintings of prize-fighting and circus-genre scenes and lithography of gigantic size compositions, Robert Riggs had a highly successful career as an artist, especially in the 1930s and 40s. His painting, The Brown Bomber, showed the boxing victory of Joe Louis over Max Schmeling. This is one of the paintings that earned Riggs election to the National Academy of Design in 1946

    He was born in Decatur, Illinois and as a young man ran away from home and joined the circus. He studied at the James Milliken University in Illinois and then trained at the Art Students League in New York, but his study was interrupted by Army service in World War I.

    He stayed overseas and attended the Acade...

    But wait, there's more...

    Displaying 1,330 of 1,314 characters.

    Subscriber Members, please Sign In for full artist biographies and all services.

    For non-paying users, good news! Full text bios for all artists are available every Friday.

    If you are not currently a member, please See Details about membership.

** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at .

Share an image of the Artist: .