The Softer Side of New York City Ashcan Artist George Wesley Bellows 1882-1925

1912 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Mrs Albert M Miller


When I think of Ohio-born George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925), I conjure up mental images of paintings of violent boxing matches & gritty street scenes in New York City.  These compositions were the core of his early work.  Bellows had left Ohio State University in 1904, just before he was to graduate & moved to New York City to study art.  Bellows was soon a student of Robert Henri at the New York School of Art, where he became associated with Henri's "The Eight" & the Ashcan School, a group of artists who advocated painting contemporary American society in all its forms. By 1906, a successful Bellows was renting his own studio.  However, less than a decade later, many of Bellows' portraits focused on women, with his wife Emma & their two daughters being frequent subjects. In these paintings, he displayed an increasingly theoretical approach to color & design, a marked departure from the fluid muscularity of his early work.

1914 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Emma at the Piano

1914 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Florence Pierce

1915 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Portrait of Anne

1916 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Garaldine Lee No 2

1919 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Emma in a Purple Dress

1919 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Emma in the Black Print

1919 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Mrs T in Wine Silk

1920 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Anne in White

1920 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Aunt Fanny

1920 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Elinor, Jean, and Anna

1920 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Emma at the Window

1921 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Katherine Rosen

1921 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) My Mother

1922 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Laura

1923 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Emma and Her Children

1924 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Elizabeth Alexander

1924 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Mr and Mrs Phillip Wase

1924 George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Violinist Leila Kalman

1930 George Wesley Bellows (American artist, 1882-1925) Mrs Richter