100 years ago there seemed to be a fine line between fine art painting and illustration. Some illustrators were better painters and some painters better illustrators. Many such examples are found throughout this blog. None straddled that narrow divide better than George Bellows.
George Bellows, self portait, lithograph, 1921
George Bellows was only 42 when he departed this life in 1925, a towering figure of the American art world. He personified the transition between the art of the Victorian era and that of the modern, for that time in history. For more, please click on this link.
Stag at Sharkey's (Cleveland Museum of Art), 1909 (Cleveland Museum of Art)
[Daughter] Lady Jean, 1924
A painting by George Bellows of his father, also named George, who was born circa 1829 in Sag Harbor on the eastern end of Long Island, New York.
Date of painting unknown.
Lucie, July 1915
I'm purporsely ending it here so that you can absorb this enchanting portrait of a beautiful young lady, as well as those just above. I'll add more spectacular examples of his genius very soon.
Blue Snow,The Battery, 1910
Cliff Dwellers, 1913
River Front, No. 1, 1915
Nude with White Shawl, 1919
Emma in the Purple Dress, 1919
[Daughter] Anne in White, 1920
Emma at the Window, 1920
[Daughter] Peerlee, 1924
As a disclaimer and a personal note, I must add that my mentor Harold Irving Smith was a colleague and acquaintance of George Bellows, both having studied with Robert Henri and George Luks in the years before World War I. Harold never failed to sing the praises of Bellows and lament his tragic premature death in 1925 at the young age of 42. According to Harold it was common gossip among their artist friends that Bellows might have been saved by an appendectomy had not his strong-willed wife Emma intervened with alternative health care. I have searched without success for an account of this online.
However, there are many links available to learn more about George Bellows, one of the most accomplished of American painters.
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