Tommy Farr original pen, ink and watercolour artwork by Tony Wysard c1937

WYSARD, Tony (1907-1984). Tommy Farr, "The Tonypandy Terror". Original Boxing Study. c.1937.
 
Original mixed-media drawing, 330 x 410mm. Pen and ink, charcoal and watercolour over pencil on thin artist's paper. Inscribed beneath the image in pencil "Tommy FARR". Unsigned, but from a group of original works by Tony Wysard.
 
A striking study of the Welsh heavyweight boxer Tommy Farr, shown in red trunks and boxing gloves throwing a long right punch. Wysard has worked rapidly across the sheet, with numerous lightly drawn and partially erased studies of the figure, limbs and boxing poses remaining visible around the more fully realised central image. Creasing and handling marks throughout, particularly towards the margins, with some light surface marking, entirely consistent with its character as a working artist's sheet. Very good. 
 
Tommy Farr (1913-1986), the celebrated Welsh heavyweight known as the "Tonypandy Terror", rose spectacularly through the heavyweight ranks during 1937. After winning the British and Empire heavyweight titles from Ben Foord in March, he defeated former world champion Max Baer the following month before challenging Joe Louis for the World Heavyweight Championship at Yankee Stadium on 30 August 1937. Farr unexpectedly lasted the full fifteen rounds against Louis and lost only on points, earning wide spread admiration in Britain for his performance.
 
The drawing probably dates from around Farr's remarkable 1937 campaign, when he became one of the best-known sporting personalities in Britain. Wysard, an illustrator and caricaturist whose work appeared in publications including The Tatler, The Bystander and The Sphere, was particularly associated with portraits of contemporary personalities.