Kill the umpire

George Bellows prints capture New York at full volume: sweaty boxing rings, packed tenement streets, snow on the Hudson and workers on the docks. Bellows was an American realist linked to the Ashcan School, and in his day one of the most praised American painters of his generation. This collection brings together art prints of his fight scenes, city views, Maine seascapes and family portraits.

About George Wesley Bellows

George Wesley Bellows was born in Columbus, Ohio, in August 1882, the only child of older parents. He was a gifted athlete and played baseball and basketball at Ohio State University, where he also drew for the student yearbook. In 1904, just before graduating, he left for New York City to study art.

There he became a student of Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and joined the circle of painters later called the Ashcan School, who wanted to paint modern American life as it really was. Bellows first won wide notice in 1908, and in 1909 he taught at the Art Students League of New York.

As his reputation grew he painted portraits for wealthy New Yorkers and spent summers painting the sea on the Maine islands of Monhegan and Matinicus. He also drew for the socialist magazine The Masses, and from 1916 he worked seriously at lithography, with a press in his own studio. He married Emma Story in 1910, and they had two daughters, Anne and Jean. Bellows died in New York on 8 January 1925, aged 42, after a ruptured appendix.

Style and Subjects

Bellows is best known for his boxing pictures, set in dark, smoky clubs where the fighters' bodies burst out in bright, rough brushstrokes full of movement. His city scenes show the crowded, noisy side of New York: kids swimming off the piers, families on fire escapes and the vast hole dug for Pennsylvania Station.

Between 1907 and 1915 he painted a series of New York under snow, setting clean blue-white snow against grimy buildings and the men shoveling it away. Later work turns calmer, with Maine seascapes, landscapes around Woodstock, New York, where he built a family home, and portraits of his wife and daughters.

Famous Works

• Stag at Sharkey's (1909), Cleveland Museum of Art. Two boxers lock together under the lights of a private club, painted with fast, slashing strokes.
• Both Members of This Club (1909). Another of his club fights, with the crowd pressing close around the ring.
• Men of the Docks (1912), National Gallery, London. Dockworkers and horses wait on a cold winter morning, with Manhattan rising behind them.
• Cliff Dwellers (1913), Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A packed Lower East Side street on a hot day, with laundry and people spilling from every window.
• Tennis at Newport (1919), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A tennis match on a summer lawn at Newport.
• Emma in the Purple Dress (1920), Dallas Museum of Art. A portrait of the artist's wife, Emma.
• Dempsey and Firpo (1924), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The 1923 heavyweight fight between Jack Dempsey and Luis Firpo, painted the year before Bellows died.

Decorating with Bellows Prints

The boxing scenes have real energy and suit a home gym, a den, a games room or a modern living room with dark walls. Their strong contrasts of light and shadow look good in black frames.

For calmer spaces, choose the snow scenes or the Maine seascapes. Their blues, whites and greens fit a hallway, a home office or a coastal-style bedroom. The city crowd scenes such as Cliff Dwellers work well in a kitchen or dining area, where their busy, everyday life feels right at home.

FAQ

What art movement was George Bellows part of?

Bellows was an American realist associated with the Ashcan School, the circle around his teacher Robert Henri that painted everyday life in New York City.

What is George Bellows's most famous painting?

His boxing pictures are the best known, especially Stag at Sharkey's (1909) at the Cleveland Museum of Art and Dempsey and Firpo (1924) at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Where can I see Bellows's original paintings?

Major works are at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the National Gallery in London, the Whitney and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Columbus Museum of Art in his hometown also holds his work.

How can you recognize a George Bellows painting?

Look for bold, rough brushwork, dark backgrounds with brightly lit figures, and a strong sense of movement. His subjects are often crowds, fighters, workers and the city in winter.

Did George Bellows make prints himself?

Yes. He set up a lithography press in his studio in 1916 and, between 1921 and 1924, worked with the printer Bolton Brown on more than a hundred images. He helped make lithography accepted as a fine art in the United States.

Related Artists

• Robert Henri — Bellows's teacher and the leader of the Ashcan circle
• William Glackens — fellow Ashcan painter of New York life
• George Luks — Ashcan painter of New York's streets and working people
• John Sloan — Ashcan painter who also drew for The Masses