Showing posts with label George Bellows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Bellows. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2012

'George Bellows' tape is a treat at the National Gallery of Art


George Bellows, Beach at Coney Island, 1908, private collection

Only precious few days remain to see the fabulous George Bellows show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington before it departs for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and later, the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The exhibition ends in Washington October 8.

An audiotape available at the entrance to the exhibition will make your visit more enjoyable and is certainly worth the $5 charge.  (Most art enthusiasts don't mind having to fork over a few bucks to hear professionals discuss great works and provide guidance, especially when institutions charge nothing for admission.)

One of the featured works on the tape is Forty-two Kids (1907) which shows boys having a lark of a time, swimming sans bathing suits, jumping off a broken wooden dock into a dark abyss, their future? 

George Bellows, Forty-two Kids, 1907, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund

Rather than a daytime scene, the light illuminates the naked boys on the dock which is surrounded by the black water and night, which consumes half the painting. Inspection reveals some of the children have already jumped in, and floating in the distance is a solitary boat, perhaps a life boat to rescue the children from their probable trajectory.    

The catalog says this painting came close to winning the annual Lippincott prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1908 but after voting 8-2 in its favor, the jury reversed its decision, probably because of a perception Mr. Lippincott might object to the work's nudity.

Said the artist, it was not the naked children which intimidated the jury, but "the naked painting."

Bellows (1882-1925) was associated with the "ashcan school" which concentrated on social conditions and life of poor people in New York tenements in the early 20th century.  He often portrayed the friction between modernity and the past.  

One example is Men of the Docks (1912) (an "ambitious, very successful picture," according to the curator on the tape). In the center of the work across the river are the city's tall buildings while in the foreground, emotionless longshoremen stand between a huge modern cruise ship in the sunlight and on the left, a small industrial boat in the shadows.  Those who do not have their heads hung low look to the left of the scene as if awaiting notice they have been replaced by modernity.  (Bellows painted Men of the Docks in the same year as the Titanic sinking.)

George Bellows, Men of the Docks, 1912, Randolph College, founded as Randolph-Macon Women's College, 1891, Lynchburg

Both Members of This Club (1909) is one of Bellows's most famous renderings of an illegal sport and all its blood, sweat, and gore. The narrator says the fighters are literally trying to kill each other, and they look it.  Be sure and study the faces of the onlookers surrounding the ring and see if you spot evil. 


George Bellows, Both Members of This Club, 1909, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale Collection

Frankie, the Organ Boy (1907) makes a viewer wonder about his background and what became of him.  He seems bewildered and out of place in his formal suit in the dark as he clasps his hands: "What am I doing here?"

George Bellows, Frankie, The Organ Boy, 1907, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Purchase, acquired through the bequest of Ben and Clara Shlyen


The forlorn expression of the Little Girl in White (Queenie Burnett) (1907), Bellows's laundry girl, offers a glimpse of what her childhood was like.   

The Saw Dust Trail (1916) shows the power of the evangelist Billy Sunday.  The catalog quotes Bellows:  "I paint Billy Sunday... to show the world what I do think of him.  Do you know, I think Billy Sunday is the worst thing that ever happened to America?  He is death to imagination, to spirituality, to art."

George Bellows, The Saw Dust Trail, 1916, Milwaukee Art Museum, Layton Art Collection

And then there is Bellows's portrayal of horrible scenes, all based on reality.  Who will ever forget the powerful and wrenching The Barricade (1918) which shows Germans in World War I using naked Belgians as human shields, or The Law is Too Slow (1922-1923) based upon a 1903 newspaper story, dateline Wilmington, Delaware, about a black man who burns at the stake while a mob of perpetrators stand and watch. In an ironic twist, the captive seems to ascend in a geyser of flames in Bellows's rendering of crayon on paper which suggests a crucifixion. 


George Bellows, The Law is Too Slow, 1922-1923, Boston Public Library, Print Department, Albert H. Wiggin Collection

Last weekend the National Gallery and Bellows were packed.   I asked myself: What are all these folks doing in here on this gorgeous day? 

Allow about an hour to hear the tape, and more time, to see the entire show. 

What: George Bellows

When: Now through October 8, 2012, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building, Washington, D.C., between 3rd and 9th streets at Constitution Avenue, NW

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-737-4215 or www.nga.gov.

Metro stations: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian
 

Monday, June 11, 2012

'George Bellows': A knockout at the National Gallery of Art

George Bellows, Madeline Davis, 1914, Lowell and Sandra Mintz

Quick! Think “George Bellows” (1882-1925) and what immediately comes to mind?

Yes, the fighting between the muscled boxers, the shadows, the lighting, the crowds, the smiling, cheering and sinister-looking men who surround the ring, but George Bellows painted much more than just men in competition.   
George Bellows, Club Night, 1907, National Gallery of Art, John Hay Whitney Collection

An exhibition of 130 of his paintings, lithographs, and drawings which span subjects ranging from portraits to fiery preachers to New York tenements opened Sunday at the National Gallery of Art, the first Bellows retrospective in 30 years. 

The large show fills nine rooms, and the works are arranged thematically according to his early works, city and river life, the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, seascapes, work and leisure, and, quite importantly,  portraits of the working poor and their displacement. 

George Bellows, Paddy Flannigan, 1908, Erving and Joyce Wolf


Bellows's wife, Emma, and their daughters figure prominently in a gallery about women, his relationship with his wife, a testament to enduring love. 

George Bellows, Emma in the Purple Dress, 1919, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz


He painted many other women, too, and the horrors of World War I.

In disturbing and graphic scenes, Bellows portrayed the occupation of Belgium by the Germans who slaughtered the people, used them for naked shields, and maimed their children, images which shock and haunt viewers, and stand as reminders of man’s constant inhumanity. 

George Bellows, The Barricade, 1918, Birmingham Museum of Art, with funds provided by the Harold and Regina Simon Fund, the Friends of American Art, Margaret Grisham Livingstone, and Crawford L. Taylor, Jr.

Bellows reluctantly supported the war and his art was used to encourage the American people to buy Liberty bonds. (Contrast his responses to war with those of Joan Miro in the exhibition in the East Building.)
George Bellows, The Germans Arrive, 1918, Ian and Annette Cumming.  This painting, according to Wikipedia, is based on an actual event.  When Bellows was criticized by another artist for painting a scene he did not witness firsthand, Bellows replied he was unaware that Leonardo da Vinci had "had a ticket to paint the Last Supper."




His breakaway style dramatically emphasizes human curves, the lines of landscape, and keen grasp of lighting and its effects. His love of sports shows up in many of his skillful renderings of male athletes.

Standing back and admiring his compositions, one is struck by the symmetry and importance of the designs and lines:  Trees, buildings, bridges, and the ground often direct attention to the main subject: people.

But look in the distance and what do you see?

George Bellows, Blue Morning, 1909, National Gallery of Art, Chester Dale Collection


He was born in Columbus, Ohio where he was bullied as a child in school. Later, at The Ohio State University, Bellows played basketball and baseball, drew illustrations for the yearbook, and rejected an offer to play ball for the Cincinnati Reds so he could take off for New York and pursue an art education.  Not what his father wanted his only child to do, but better your heart than your head.

Bellows died at age 42 from the effects of appendicitis, leaving behind so many strong renderings on so many different subjects, viewers can only guess about his output had he lived as long as his contemporary and friend, Edward Hopper, born the same year as Bellows and living until age 85.

In addition to the 336-page catalogue, the National Gallery's shops have for sale a Bellows mug, calendar, postcards, boxed notes, a film, and books including a new children's book, George Bellows: Painter with a Punch! Also, an audio tape for $5 is available for the tour.


From the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. the show travels to the Metropolitan Museum in New York (November 15) and then, the Royal Academy of Arts in London (March 16, 2013). 

For their sponsorship of this exhibition the people of the United States and guests are grateful to Nippon Television Network Corporation, The Terra Foundation for American Art, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Cordover Family Foundation, and The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts.

Exhibition events

Talks:
Eric Denker
June 20–22, 27, 28, 30, 2 p.m.
Diane Arkin
July 25, 30; August 3, 6, 7, 11 a.m.
West Building Rotunda, Main Floor
50 minutes

Two piano concerts
Both by Leslie Amper
June 24 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
East Building Concourse, Auditorium

1.Ciné-concert: 4 p.m.
Music for the silent film, The New York Hat, and lecture

2. Concert: 6:30 p.m.
Music by Gershwin, MacDowell, and other composers

Film: 
George Bellows
Produced by the Gallery, this film uses original footage shot in Manhattan and Maine. The film will be screened in the West Building Lecture Hall daily beginning at noon, and in the East Building Auditorium Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., with minor exceptions.
Made possible by the HRH Foundation.


Public Symposium
Friday, October 5, 12–5 p.m.
Saturday, October 6, 1–5 p.m.
Illustrated lectures by noted scholars

What: George Bellows

When: Now through October 8, 2012, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building, Washington, D.C., between 3rd and 9th streets at Constitution Avenue, NW

How much:  No charge

For more information: 202-737-4215  or www.nga.gov.

Metro stations: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian

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