
Public data from the Art Institute of Chicago. Learn more
The Wrestler's Challenge
Provenance
Probably Henry C. Gibson (died 1891), Philadelphia, by at least 1880 [Hart 1880]. Albert Allison Munger (died 1898), Chicago, by at least February 24, 1890 [lent to Chicago 1890, McEwen, Munger, and Meritt Collections, no. 225]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1901 [Art Institute of Chicago 1898; see also “Munger Estate to be Divided: Litigation Among Heirs Ends…,” Chicago Daily Tribune (April 12, 1901), p. 7].
Inscriptions
Incribed lower right: Munkacsy, M.
Exhibition history
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings Exhibited at the Opening of the New Galleries: McEwen, Munger and Meritt Collections, February 24, 1890, cat. no. 225. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Permanent and Loan Collections, April 5, 1890, cat. no. 225. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Collection of Paintings from Various Sources, August 1890, cat. no. 79. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Works of Old Dutch Masters and Other Pictures, November 8, 1891-January 1892, cat. no. 66. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings, Sculptures and Other Objects Exhibited during the World’s Congress, May 15-October 31, 1893, cat. no. 86. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings, Sculpture, and Other Objects Exhibited at the Opening of the New Museum, December 8, 1893, cat. no. 86.
Publications
Edward Strahan, Art Treasures of America: being the choicest works of art in the public and private collections of North America (Philadelphia: Gebbie and Barrie, 1880), pp. 77-8, 80 [print between pp. 72 and 73 is after another version]. Charles Henry Hart, “The Public and Private Collections of the United States. II. The Collection of Mr. Henry C. Gibson, Philadelphia. First Article,” in American Art Review 1, 6 (1880), pp. 231-2. “Mr. Henry C. Gibson’s House,” in Artistic Houses: being a series of interior views of a number of the most beautiful and celebrated homes in the United States, with a description of the art treasures contained therein (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1883), p. 150 (ill.). Charles Henry Hart, “The Public and Private Collections of the United States. The Collection of Mr. Henry C. Gibson,” in Walter Montgomery, ed. American Art and American Art Collections, vol. 1 (Boston: E. W. Walker, 1889), pp. 111-2. Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Works of Old Dutch Masters and Other Pictures (Chicago: Knight and Leonard, 1890), p. 46, cat. no. 106. Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Sculpture, and Other Objects in the Museum (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1894), p. 59, cat. no. 86. Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Objects in the Museum, pt. 1, Sculpture and Painting, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1896), p. 77, cat. no. 86. “De Munkácsy is Dying,” Chicago Daily Tribune (October 25, 1896), p. 33. Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Objects in the Museum: Sculpture and Painting, 3rd ed. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1898), pp. 98, 105, cat. no. 86. Charles Francis Browne, “The Permanent Collections in the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago. VIII. The Munger Collection,” in Brush and Pencil 3, 2 (1898), p. 74. “Munger Gives Much to City: Millionaire’s Will Bequeaths All His Paintings to the Art Institute,” Chicago Daily Tribune (August 31, 1898), p. 10. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Objects in the Museum (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1901), p. 167, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Objects in the Museum (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1904), p. 173, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Sculpture, Paintings and Other Objects (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1907), pp. 182, 185, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Sculpture, Paintings and Other Objects (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1910), pp. 174-5, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Paintings, Sculpture and Other Objects in the Museum (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1913), p. 118, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, General Catalogue of Paintings, Sculpture, and Other Objects in the Museum (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1914), p. 122, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture and Architecture (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1917), p. 122, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, Paintings, and Drawings, pt. 2, Paintings and Drawings (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1920), p. 27, cat. no. 163. Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture and Paintings, pt. 2, Paintings (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1922), p. 27, cat. no. 163. Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 25 (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1931), p. 271. Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), p. 342.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Mihály Munkácsy (Hungarian, 1844-1900)
- Date
- 1875
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 88.3 × 130.3 cm (34 3/4 × 51 5/16 in.); Framed: 118.2 × 159.4 × 4.8 cm (46 1/2 × 62 3/4 × 1 7/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- painting
- Style
- nineteenth century
- Place
- Hungary
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Credit line
- A. A. Munger Collection
- Accession no.
- 1901.435
More by Mihály Munkácsy in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00000945
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