BIOGRAPHY
A painter and lithographer, George Bellows was the son of an architect and building contractor. He displayed a talent for drawing and for athletics at an early age. In 1901, he entered Ohio State University, where he contributed drawings to the school yearbook and played on both the basketball and the baseball teams. In the spring of his third year he withdrew from school to play semi-professional baseball until the end of summer 1904; this, and the sale of several of his drawings, earned him sufficient money to leave Columbus to pursue his career as an artist.
Studying under artist Robert Henri in New York, Bellows' choice of proletarian subjects and adoption of a loose, impressionistic style allies him firmly with the Ashcan School, the first generation of New York realists, so called because of their uncompromisingly urban themes. He achieved recognition with the bravura Stag at Sharkey's (1907), a vivid representation of an illegal prizefight. In paintings like Cliff Dwellers (1913), an incident-packed depiction of working-class tenements, Bellows captured the bustle and energy of city life. After becoming the youngest associate member ever elected to the National Academy of Design in 1909, Bellows helped to organize the Armory Show in 1913. Exposure to contemporary European painting introduced a greater formality into his compositions; however, Bellows was always considered a quintessential American artist, one of the few who did not study abroad.
In the years leading up to his death, caused by complications arising from an operation, he executed a number of landscapes and a group of figure compositions ranging from a crucifixion, to boxing, to nudes in idyllic landscapes (e.g. Tennis at Newport).
A painter and lithographer, George Bellows was the son of an architect and building contractor. He displayed a talent for drawing and for athletics at an early age. In 1901, he entered Ohio State University, where he contributed drawings to the school yearbook and played on both the basketball and the baseball teams. In the spring of his third year he withdrew from school to play semi-professional baseball until the end of summer 1904; this, and the sale of several of his drawings, earned him sufficient money to leave Columbus to pursue his career as an artist.
Studying under artist Robert Henri in New York, Bellows' choice of proletarian subjects and adoption of a loose, impressionistic style allies him firmly with the Ashcan School, the first generation of New York realists, so called because of their uncompromisingly urban themes. He achieved recognition with the bravura Stag at Sharkey's (1907), a vivid representation of an illegal prizefight. In paintings like Cliff Dwellers (1913), an incident-packed depiction of working-class tenements, Bellows captured the bustle and energy of city life. After becoming the youngest associate member ever elected to the National Academy of Design in 1909, Bellows helped to organize the Armory Show in 1913. Exposure to contemporary European painting introduced a greater formality into his compositions; however, Bellows was always considered a quintessential American artist, one of the few who did not study abroad.
In the years leading up to his death, caused by complications arising from an operation, he executed a number of landscapes and a group of figure compositions ranging from a crucifixion, to boxing, to nudes in idyllic landscapes (e.g. Tennis at Newport).
RESOURCES
1. Man and Dog
2. Cliff Dwellers
3. Works by Bellows in the Crystal Bridges Museum main collection:
Excavation at Night ; The Knock Out ; The Studio ; Return of the Useless ; Two Women
1. Man and Dog
2. Cliff Dwellers
3. Works by Bellows in the Crystal Bridges Museum main collection:
Excavation at Night ; The Knock Out ; The Studio ; Return of the Useless ; Two Women
REFERENCES
Biography adapted from the following two sources:
----> Kendall, M. Sue. "Bellows, George." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T007720>.
----> Rodgers, David. "Bellows, George Wesley." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e240>.
Artwork behind title: Bellows's Return of the Useless (detail), Crystal Bridges Museum
Biography adapted from the following two sources:
----> Kendall, M. Sue. "Bellows, George." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T007720>.
----> Rodgers, David. "Bellows, George Wesley." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e240>.
Artwork behind title: Bellows's Return of the Useless (detail), Crystal Bridges Museum
