Skip to main content

George Wesley Bellows Art

American, 1882-1925
George Bellows, an American artist, was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1882, the only child of a successful building contractor from Sag Harbor, New York. He entered Ohio State University in 1901, where he played baseball and basketball and made drawings for college publications. He dropped out of college in 1904, went to New York, and studied under Robert Henri (American, 1865 – 1929) at the New York School of Art, where Edward Hopper (American, 1882 – 1967), Rockwell Kent (American, 1882 – 1971), and Guy Pène du Bois (American, 1884 – 1958) were his classmates. A superb technician who worked in a confident, painterly style, Bellows soon established himself as the most important realist of his generation. He created memorable images of club fights, street urchins swimming in the East River, and the Pennsylvania Station excavation site and garnered praise from both progressive and conservative critics. In 1910 Bellows began teaching at the Art Students League and married Emma Story, by whom he had two daughters. After 1910 Bellows gradually abandoned the stark urban realism and dark palette characteristic of his early work and gravitated toward painting landscapes, seascapes, and portraits. Bellows helped organize the Armory Show in 1913, in which five of his paintings and a number of drawings were included. That year he was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design. He had leftist political views and contributed illustrations to the Socialist publication The Masses from 1912 to 1917. Bellows began to make lithographs in 1916 and his exceptional talent engendered a revival of interest in the medium. He worked in Maine, in Carmel, California, and in Middletown, Rhode Island, and was a founding member of the Society of Independent Artists and a charter member of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. In 1919 he taught at the Art Institute of Chicago. Bellows, who never went to Europe, is regarded as a quintessential American artist whose vigorous style enabled him to explore a wide range of subjects from scenes of modern urban life to portraits of his daughters, to turbulent Maine seascapes. As an early biographer noted, Bellows “caught the brute force of the prizefighter, the ruggedness of the country pasture, the essence of childhood and recorded them appropriately not only for his own generation but for all time.”[1] [1] [Frederick A. Sweet], George Bellows: Paintings, Drawings and Prints (Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 1946). Robert Torchia September 29, 2016
(Biography provided by Catherine E. Burns Fine Prints)
to
10
1
5
5
6
2
2
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
8
7
6
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
10
2
7
10
6,786
3,036
2,518
1,218
8
1
1
1
1
Artist: George Wesley Bellows
The Hold Up, First State
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed in pencil by the artist lower right Titled "Hold Up" by the artist in pencil. Signed by the printer Bolton Brown lower left. Edition: 42 in this state Note: In The Hold Up, se...
Category

1920s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

red ballboy or Studies for "Tennis Tournament"
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
red ballboy or Studies for "Tennis Tournament" Unsigned Provenance: Estate of the Artist, 1925 Emma S. Bellows (widow( Emma S. Bellows Trust Allison Galleries, New York Representing the Bellows Trust. Stock HVA 34 Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York Thomas French Fine Art Ronald Slotter, Columbus, Ohio Columbus College of Art and Design, de-accessed 2010 Annotated by the artist:"red ballboy" Study sketches...
Category

1910s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Graphite

"Business-Men's Class, Y.M.C.A." George Bellows, Ashcan School Print
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in New York, NY
George Bellows Business-Men's Class, Y.M.C.A, 1916 Signed, numbered "No. 41" and titled lower margin Lithograph on wove paper 11 1/2 x 17 1/8 inches Edition of 64 Provenance: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York Private Collection, Ohio Literature: Mason, 20. After his arrival from Columbus, Ohio in 1904, Bellows lived at the West Side YMCA. It was there that he met Eugene Speicher, another aspiring young artist who was to become his lifelong friend. Always interested in the anatomy of the human body, Bellows often satirized the various types who, while leading a sedentary life, feel compelled to devote a portion of their daily routine to physical self-improvement. Throughout his brief but illustrious career, George Wesley Bellows created striking scenes that documented ordinary American life in all its beauty and banality. Considered an American Realist, the artist eschewed embellishment, finding inspiration in the gritty boroughs of New York City, the rocky coastline of Maine, and, later, in his friends and family. Bellows garnered early recognition for his arresting portrayals of illegal prizefighting, dramatic works executed in dark tonal palettes that underscore the brutality of the violent sport. Bellows’ elderly Methodist parents hoped their son might pursue the ministry, a calling the extroverted athlete never received. The Columbus native competed on the baseball team at Ohio State University and also served as an illustrator for the college yearbook. In the fall of 1904—just months shy of his expected graduation—Bellows defied his father’s wishes and boarded a train to New York City in hopes of becoming a magazine illustrator like his idols Howard Chandler Christy and Charles Dana Gibson. Before leaving, he reportedly turned down an offer to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds...
Category

1910s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph, Paper

Sketch of Anne
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Sketch of Anne Lithograph, 1923-1924 Signed and titled by the artist, signed by his printer Bolton Brown Edition: 42 Printed by Bolton Brown (see photo of his signature in pencil) Pr...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Irish Fair
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Irish Fair Lithograph, 1923 Signed and numbered in pencil by the artist (see photo) Titled "Irish Fair" by the artist in pencil Edition: 84 Housed in an archival frame with acid free...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Mouth of Honey
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
The Mouth of Honey Lithographic crayon and mixed media on paper mounted to support paper Initialed by the artist "GB" bottom center on image. (see photo) Titled in pencil in bottom m...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Crayon

Emma and Marjorie on a Sofa
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Emma and Marjorie on a Sofa Lithograph printed on chine paper, 1921 Signed by the artist lower right (see photo) Signed by the printer Bolton Brown lower left (see photo) Edition: 44...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Tennis (Tennis Tournament)
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in New York, NY
George Bellows (1882-1925), Tennis (Tennis Tournament), lithograph, 1921, signed in pencil lower right, also signed and annotated by the printer Bolton Brown, imp lower left, and num...
Category

1920s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

THE LIFE CLASS - SECOND STONE (THE MODEL, LIFE CLASS).
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Portland, ME
Bellows, George. THE LIFE CLASS - SECOND STONE (THE MODEL, LIFE CLASS). Mason 43, Bellows 193. Lithograph, 1917. Edition of 49, signed by Bellows. Inscribed "No.20," title...
Category

Early 20th Century George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Black Hat (Emma in a Black Hat)
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in New York, NY
George Bellows (1882-1925), The Black Hat (Emma in a Black Hat), lithograph, 1921. Reference: Morse 113. From the edition of 55. Signed in pencil by the arti...
Category

1920s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Related Items
Norman Barr, Farm, North Bronx (NYC)
By Norman Barr
Located in New York, NY
Norman Barr recorded his beloved New York City from the Bronx, to Coney Island, to the Fulton Fish Market. In this period he was on the New Deal's Mural ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Crayon, India Ink

[Untitled] Beach Scene
By Harriet Keese Lanfair
Located in New York, NY
Harriet (Keese) Lanfair (1900-1988) lithograph, c. 1935, signed in pencil on lower right margin. Printed on a very light japan paper, with margins. A proof impression, with printers...
Category

1930s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Kerr Eby, Lobster Fleet
By Kerr Eby
Located in New York, NY
Although the title 'Lobster Fleet' calls to mind numerous vessels at sea in a single spot (and there's a group in the distance), in fact the print features a lone fisherman in a smal...
Category

1930s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Etching

Jean Cocteau - White Book - Original Handcolored Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Cocteau White Book - Autobiography about Cocteau's discovery of his homosexuality. The book was first published anonymously and created a scandal. Original Handcolored Lithograp...
Category

1930s Modern George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

NATURAL BEAUTY Signed Lithograph, Abstract Portrait, Black Woman w Flower Vase
By William Tolliver
Located in Union City, NJ
NATURAL BEAUTY by the self taught African American artist William Tolliver (b.1951-2000) is an original hand drawn limited edition lithograph printed in 25 colors on archival printma...
Category

1990s Contemporary George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Jean Cocteau - He ! He! Toro - Original Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau Title: He ! He! Toro 1961 Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Lithograph made for the portfolio "Gitans et Corridas" published by Société de Diffusion Artistiq...
Category

1960s Modern George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Mark Beard 054 (Figurative Charcoal Drawing of Two Male Nudes on Arches Paper)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative drawing of two male nudes made with graphite, charcoal, and conte crayon on Arches paper 30 x 14 inches, unframed This unique life study drawing of two standing nude m...
Category

2010s Modern George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Charcoal, Graphite, Paper

Chez Panisse Restaurant Birthday Celebration: Original Goines Graphic Art Poster
By David Lance Goines
Located in Alamo, CA
This original graphic art lithographic poster entitled "Chez Panisse Restaurant and Cafe" was created by David Lance Goines in 1989 in his Berkeley studio...
Category

Late 20th Century George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

MB 808 (Figurative Charcoal Drawing on Paper of Two Male Nudes Models)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative drawing made with graphite, conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30 x 13 inches, unframed This unique life study drawing of two standing male nudes was made by Mar...
Category

2010s Modern George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Charcoal, Graphite, Archival Paper

Chez Panisse Birthday Celebration: Signed Limited Ed. Goines Graphic Art Poster
By David Lance Goines
Located in Alamo, CA
This original framed graphic art lithographic poster entitled "Chez Panisse Cafe & Restaurant Seventeenth Birthday" was created by David Lance Goines in 1...
Category

Late 20th Century George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Tah-Ro-Hon, An Ioway Warrior: Original Hand-colored McKenney & Hall Lithograph
By McKenney & Hall
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 19th century hand-colored McKenney and Hall lithograph of a Native American entitled "Tah-Ro-Hon, An Ioway Warrior", lithographed by J. T. Bowen after a painting by Charles Bird King and published by Rice and Hart & Co. in Philadelphia in 1848. For his portrait Tah-Ro-Hon is wearing a feathered multicolored headdress, long ornamental earrings, a chain necklace, a presidential piece medal on a ribbon necklace and he holds a multicolored staff with feathers. This original McKenney and Hall hand-colored lithograph is printed on a sheet measuring 10" high and 7" wide. There is a tiny spot of red paint adjacent to a red feather hanging...
Category

Mid-19th Century Naturalistic George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Leon Dolice, (Washington Square, New York City)
By Leon Dolice
Located in New York, NY
Leon Dolice managed to capture New York City moments and places dear to all New Yorkers. This view of the arch in Washington Square Park is a perfect example. It's shown from Fifth A...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Intaglio

Previously Available Items
Standing Female Nude
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Standing Female Nude Graphite on wove paper, c. 1915 Signed by the artist's daughter, Jean Bellows Booth (JBB) (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the artist H. V. Allison Galleries (#94 on partial label), agent for Bellows Trust Ronald Sloter, Columbus, OH, noted collector Columbus College of Art and Design Biography George Wesley Bellows grew up in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a devout and solidly Midwestern building contractor, and a mother who hoped that her son would become a Methodist Bishop. He always felt deeply ambivalent about his father, noting at the time of his death that, "He was a wonderfully fine man, yet being fifty-five when I appeared, his point of view, his character even, belonged to so remote a past that I look upon many of his ideas to this day with amazement and sorrow." Teased as a sissy by his classmates, George Bellows quickly learned to defend himself with his fists, and compensated for his gangling awkwardness by becoming an outstanding athlete, particularly in baseball. His love of drawing was kindled early since he was forbidden to play outside on Sundays but allowed to draw while his mother read aloud from the Bible. At Ohio State University, George Bellows proved a spirited extrovert, excelling in baseball as well as in the new sport of basketball, singing in theatricals, and producing drawings of Gibson-like girls for the university's magazine. Bellows's athletic prowess almost diverted him from a career in art, but in 1904 he decided to turn down a professional baseball contact and move to New York City to study painting. The sprawling, teaming city of New York was a revelation to him after the neat lawns and tidy homes of Columbus. There he quickly fell under the spell of the charismatic teacher Robert Henri, who introduced him to Shaw, Ibsen and socialism, and inspired him to shift from drawing Gibson Girls to painting the life of the streets. Bellows was still a relative newcomer to New York when Henri and his followers staged their famous exhibition of "The Eight" at the Macbeth Gallery, and consequently he was not included. But in spirit his work belongs with that display - perhaps someday Henri’s group will be rechristened "The Nine" to pay tribute to the fact that George Bellows was the painter whose work best expresses the goals of the group. In 1906 Bellows painted his first masterpiece, "The Cross-Eyed Boy." He followed with several other equally memorable likenesses of street urchins, and then expanded his vision with a series of masterful urban scenes that record such subjects as boys swimming...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Graphite

Hungry Dogs, Second State
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Hungry Dogs, Second State Lithograph, 1916 Considered to be the artist's first lithograph Signed, titled and numbered in pencil by the artist (see photo) Titled "Hungry Dogs" by the artist in pencil (see photo) Edition: at least 41 impressions, this "No. 14" Reference: Masson 1B ii/II Condition: Printer's ink in margins, otherwise very good condition. Note: The artist's first lithograph. The "Ash Can School" is derived from this image and its' depiction of an ash can in the lower left of the composition. A very important American 20th Century print. This image gave rise to the naming of the most important American style of painting in the first quarter of the 20th century. Provenance: Estate of the artist H. V. Allison & Co., New York (Bellows estate dealer) Private Collection, Columbus, Ohio (Bellows city of birth) From 2001 to 2018, Thomas French Fine Art was the exclusive agent for the Bellows Family Trust. Thomas French Fine Art and The Bellows Trust hold a large inventory of original lithographs and drawings created by George Wesley Bellows that were left in the artist’s studio at the time of his unexpected early death. All of George Bellows’ original lithographs were printed by the artist or under his direct supervision. There are no posthumous impressions of any of George Bellows’ lithographs...
Category

1910s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

BETWEEN ROUNDS
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Portland, ME
Bellows, George (American 1882-1925). BETWEEN ROUNDS NO.1 (LARGE). Mason 25, Bellows 52. Lithograph, 1916. Edition of 58, this signed by Jean Bellows Beeth, the artist's daughter, a...
Category

1910s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

ARTIST'S EVENING (AT PETIPAS)
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Portland, ME
Bellows, George. ARTIST'S EVENING (AT PETIPAS). M.19. Lithograph, 1916. Edition of 65. A lifetime impression, signed by the artist in pencil and numbered "57." Printed on thin Japane...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Between Rounds, Small, Second Stone
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and titled by the artist Signed lower left by the printer, Bolton Brown Edition 42 Printed on fine chine paper, mounted to paper board, most probably by the artist’s first print dealer, Frederick Keppel & Company, in the mid 1920’s. This is consistent with other similar mounted examples in the estate of the artist. The Keppel firm was active from 1868 to 1941, when Harry V. Allison started his own gallery, H. V. Allison Gallery...
Category

1920s Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Preliminaries (to the Big Bout).
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Storrs, CT
Mason 24. 15 7/8 x 19 5/8 (sheet 23 x 27 1/4). Edition 67, #2. A rich impression printed on white wove paper paper, with full margins. Provenance: ACA Galleries, private New York collection. This is a fine lifetime impression. Signed, numbered and titled in pencil by the artist. In this early impression, there are four spotlights in the top of the image. The three in the right were eliminated in subsequent impressions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bellows...
Category

20th Century Ashcan School George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Counted Out, 1st Stone (M. 94)
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in New York, NY
Medium: Lithograph on paper Signed and titled in pencil from the edition of 11
Category

1920s American Realist George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Sixteen East Gay Street
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed by the artist and his printer Bolton Brown Edition: 72 Provenance: H.V. Allison & Co., Inc., New York (label) References And Exhibitions: This nostalgic scene o...
Category

1920s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Legs of the Sea
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed by the artist and his printer Bolton Brown Edition: 53 Provenance: H.V. Allison & Co., Inc., New York (label) References: Lauris Ma...
Category

1920s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

Top I' the World
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed by the artist lower right "G.B." Preliminary drawing for the frontispiece illustration of The Wind Bloweth by Donn Byrne Exhibited: Gallery of Modern Art, 1966 A C...
Category

1920s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

India Ink, Oil Crayon

The Return to Life
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed lower right by the artist's daughter Jean Bellows Booth (J.B.B.) Preliminary drawing for the lithograph "The Return to Life" from the series "Men Like Gods." Sister drawing in the Wiggin Collection, Boston Public Library. Provenance: Bellows Trust # --- H.V. Allison & Co, New York, NY R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago, IL Thomas French Fine Art Collection Arthur A. Anderson Exhibition: Greenville County Art Museum, George Bellows: Drawings (Greenville, SC: 1991). R.H. Love Galleries, George Bellows: Drawings (Chicago, IL, 1992). (label) On loan to the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paultz, NY, 2006-2008 Sketch of man...
Category

1920s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Crayon

Introducing Georges Charpentier
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and titled by the artist and signed by his printer, Bolton Brown Edition: c. 50 References And Exhibitions: Note: Depicts the pre-bout introduction of Georges Charpentier, who was knocked out by Jack Dempsey...
Category

1920s George Wesley Bellows Art

Materials

Lithograph

George Wesley Bellows art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic George Wesley Bellows art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by George Wesley Bellows in lithograph, graphite, pencil and more. Not every interior allows for large George Wesley Bellows art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Fred Nagler, Frank Benson, and John Sloan. George Wesley Bellows art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,500 and tops out at $55,000, while the average work can sell for $7,800.

Artists Similar to George Wesley Bellows

Questions About George Wesley Bellows Art
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    George Bellows created paintings that focussed on realism. His oil paintings mixed urban studies with social and political themes, mainly centered around New York City. On 1stDibs, you can shop a selection of George Bellow’s pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers from the comfort of your home.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Cliff Dwellers by George Bellows is a painting created in 1913 that’s meant to depict the explosive population growth that New York City was experiencing at the time. Specifically, the painting is of a hot summer’s day in New York City’s Lower East Side. On 1stDibs, find a variety of original artwork from top artists.

Recently Viewed

View All