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George Bellows: An Artist in Action
George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) painted American life in action. From prizefights and polo matches to children playing on the banks of a river, his subjects reflect his vivacious approach to the world around him. A major realist painter, his vigorous brushstrokes also compose landscapes of remote areas of natural beauty, scenes of bustling city streets, and intimate portraits of society figures, friends, and family. All dynamics of early twentieth-century America fill Bellows's canvases and prints.
Bellows studied at the New York School of Art under Robert Henri and became one of the leading artists of the Ashcan school. His technical brilliance and vibrant realism were celebrated from early in his career, and at the age of twenty-six he became one of the youngest artists ever to be elected to the National Academy of Design in New York. Bellows exhibited often, to great acclaim, and completed many significant commissions, achieving a powerfully impressive body of work before his sudden death in his early forties.
This book brings together the most important works of Bellows's short but prolific career, combining them with an in-depth biography of the artist. Photographs of family and friends, as well as of Bellows himself throughout his life, illuminate the text and complete this portrait of George Bellows, the artist and the man.
Bellows studied at the New York School of Art under Robert Henri and became one of the leading artists of the Ashcan school. His technical brilliance and vibrant realism were celebrated from early in his career, and at the age of twenty-six he became one of the youngest artists ever to be elected to the National Academy of Design in New York. Bellows exhibited often, to great acclaim, and completed many significant commissions, achieving a powerfully impressive body of work before his sudden death in his early forties.
This book brings together the most important works of Bellows's short but prolific career, combining them with an in-depth biography of the artist. Photographs of family and friends, as well as of Bellows himself throughout his life, illuminate the text and complete this portrait of George Bellows, the artist and the man.
- GenresArtArt History
160 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 24, 2022
One of the best Bellows collections in print with excellent color reproductions of his most popular paintings. The text by Mary Sayre Haverstock is highly entertaining as it's chock full of cool gossip, such as:
1. One of Bellows' university classmates was movie star Clifton Webb.
2. At one point during his time at the New York School of Art he studied under John Sloan, another leading light in the Ashcan School, along with Bellows.
3. At school a real tension breaker would be when his fellow art classmates would break into a paint fight, basically a food fight but with paints. I didn't know this was a thing (!).
4. During his young scuffling artist phase he shared a space with three other painters, and a frequent sofa jockey was playwright Eugene O'Neill, who was such a letch that Bellows' fiancée refused to be left alone in the same room with him. Bloody hell.
The exciting thing about Bellows' early years in New York was that he got to see the city transition into the 20th Century (i.e. the building of Penn Station!) so he captured it all in his realist paintings. Taken into that context, his paintings are historical and absolutely essential viewing.
1. One of Bellows' university classmates was movie star Clifton Webb.
2. At one point during his time at the New York School of Art he studied under John Sloan, another leading light in the Ashcan School, along with Bellows.
3. At school a real tension breaker would be when his fellow art classmates would break into a paint fight, basically a food fight but with paints. I didn't know this was a thing (!).
4. During his young scuffling artist phase he shared a space with three other painters, and a frequent sofa jockey was playwright Eugene O'Neill, who was such a letch that Bellows' fiancée refused to be left alone in the same room with him. Bloody hell.
The exciting thing about Bellows' early years in New York was that he got to see the city transition into the 20th Century (i.e. the building of Penn Station!) so he captured it all in his realist paintings. Taken into that context, his paintings are historical and absolutely essential viewing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review