pl bk Eh Seal ‘ o> 7 7 es This Exhibition is installed in Ge south of the Sculpture a _ 5 Es é ’ am a j Met i) Bs Excerpt from the Metropolitan Museum Catalog of the Bellows Memorial Exhibition In organizing a memorial exhibition of the works of George Bellows, the Trustees of the Museum have wished to do honor to an American artist of high distinction and unusual versatility, whose powers were just reaching their full maturity when he died, although they had already received wide recognition. For the Trustees, EDWARD ROBINSON, Director. New York, N. Y., September 25, 1925. ‘e NOTE: Artists who have been SU honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art: JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER. WINSLOW HOMER. WILLIAM M. CHASE. THOMAS EAKINS. ALBERT P. RYDER. ABBOTT THAYER, GEORGE FULLER. F. E,.CHURCH. J. ALDEN WEIR. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Academy gratefully acknowledges its indebtedness to the following persons, whose generosity made it pos- sible to illustrate the variety of the artist’s interests so fully: Mrs. GEORGE BELLOWS. Mrs. CHARLES W. GOODYEAR. ANSON C. GOODYEAR. PETER GLICK. ROBERT HENRI. F. R. HUNTINGTON. ADOLPH LEWISOHN. HowarpD B. MONETT. ROBERT TREAT PAINE, 2ND. CHARLES WETHERILL MACDUFF SMITH. EUGENE SPEICHER. An intimate study of George Bellows with his two children, Anne and Jean, whose portraits won for him international fame. BIOGRAPHICAL George Wesley Bellows EORGE WESLEY BELLOWS was born in Colum- bus, Ohio, August 12, 1882, the son of George and Anna (Smith) Bellows. He was a descendant of Benjamin Bellows who migrated from England in 1632 and founded Bellows Falls, Vermont. His father was an architect and builder in Columbus. The son attended Ohio State University, graduating from there in 1904, and at the same time was a pupil at the Columbus Art School. Later he studied under Maratta in Chicago. In 1904 he came to New York to study drawing and painting under Robert Henri. In 1906 he opened a studio in New York and began by exhibiting three portraits in that year. In 1908 he exhibited his first landscape in the National Academy of Design. It was awarded the second Hallgarten prize. He became an Associate of the National Academy of Design the next year, at the age of twenty-seven, the youngest man ever to be elected an Associate. When twenty-seven, he became an instructor in life and composition classes at the Art Students’ League—in 1910. In 1913 he was elected a National Academician. Meantime the Museums had be- gun to buy his works. One of his pictures went to the Metropolitan, another to the Pennsylvania Academy. Prizes and medals were awarded to him with increasing frequency, the list of them being a long one. On September 23, 1910, he married Emma Louise, the daughter of William E. Story of Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He had two daughters, Anne and Jean. His family life inspired many of his best canvases, whether of his mother, father, aunt, wife or children. His works were frequently exhibited abroad; in Lon- don, Paris, Berlin, Venice and Munich. He is represented in numerous Museums and many private galleries. He lived, after his marriage in 1910, at 146 East 19th Street, in New York. His summers were spent at Monhe- 6 BELLOWS MEMORIAL EXHIBITION gan, Maine, Ogunquit, Maine, Newport, Rhode Island, Camden, Maine, Carmel, California, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Woodstock, New York. He was a member of many Art Societies and clubs and had taken a par- ticularly active part in the formation and welfare of the New Society of Painters. He died in New York City on January 8, 1925. e HIS memorial exhibition is a work of love. It has behind it the guiding forces of the intimates who were associated with the artist. Silently, but with a mute devotion, their efforts have been to show to America their idol of artist, goodfellow, husbandman and human being. Coming into his own at a time when the artistic world was in a state of great unrest between the breaking down of some unsound, tho established artistic creeds and the introduction of many violently. contradictory and untried new ones, George Bellows enjoyed a remarkable popu- larity in both hostile camps. This can perhaps be ex- plained by the fact that in his art he was more conserva- tive than the conservatives and at the same time such an honest experimenter that all classes of artists found some- thing to admire in him. To the sincere student he said: “Take a little less proflt and do the thing you want to do;” to the illustrator he said: “The story telling picture has a legitimate place in art;” to the modernist he appeared to be opening new fields of endeavor and yet there are qualities in his now famous portrait and figure groups that are as sturdy and solid as Velasquez. Such was the spirit of George Bellows. How we shall miss his honest, sincere and earnest arguments! His eye was clear, his hand was sure, but what is much more important, he was endowed with a sensitive, well-balanced, alert artistic mind. This exhibition was planned to honor him on the first anniversary of his demise. WILLIAM M. HEKKING. ELEANOR, JEAN AND ANNA (Oil) For this painting the artist was awarded the Beck Medal, Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia, 1922, and Gold Medal, International Exhibition, Carnegie Institute of Art, 1922. It was purchased for the Permanent Collection with income from the Charles Clifton Fund the following year. BELLOWS MEMORIAL EXHIBITION 1 =I CATALOG OF OIL PAINTINGS CROSS-EYED BOY, 1906. This is the artist’s first portrait. The model was Jimmy Flannigan, a newsboy and brother of “Paddy,” whose portrait Mr. Bellows subsequently painted. It was in 1906 that Mr. Bellows opened in New York his first studio and exhibited his first canvas. This was nearly three years after he had left Ohio State University and arrived in New York to study under Robert Henri. ‘“Cross-Eyed Boy,” was painted in New York during the sum- mer of 1906. H. 20; W. 16 inches. Lent by Mrs. George Bellows. FORTY-TWO KIDS, 1907. The first painting to be sold by the artist, four years after he began the study of art. Painted in New York, the East River; summer. H. 42; W. 60 inches. Lent by Peter Glick. WARSHIPS ON THE HUDSON, 1909. Painted in New York, Riverside Drive; autumn. First Prize, Newport Art Association, 1918. H. 30; W. 38 inches. BLUE SNOW; THE BATTERY, 1910. Painted in New York, Battery Park; winter. H. 34; W. 44 inches. NEW YORK, 1911. Painted in New York, Fifth Avenue, Broadway and 23rd Street; winter. H. 42; W. 38 inches. EVENING SWELL, 1911. Painted in New York from a smaller painting made during the previous summer on the Island of Monhegan, Maine. H. 30; W. 388 inches. THE CIRCUS, 1912: Painted in New York; summer; from _ sketches made at a “Society” Circus at Montclair, New Jer- sey. Received Honorable Mention, Carnegie In- stitute, 1913. H. 34; W. 44 inches. Lent by Robert Treat Paine, 2nd. APPROACH TO THE BRIDGE AT NIGHT, 1913. Painted in New York; summer. Sketched from the Third Avenue Elevated Station at Canal Street late at night while the Manhattan Bridge was still under construction. H. 34; W. 44 inches. 2 a. 10 pe 12. 13. 14, 15. 16. IFS 18. BELLOWS MEMORIAL EXHIBITION EASTER SNOW, 1915. Painted in New York, Riverside Drive; Easter Sunday. H. 34; W. 44 inches. Lent by Mrs. Charles W. Goodyear. . CREHAVEN, 1917. Painted in New York; winter; from a small paint- ing previously made on the Island of Crehaven, Maine. H. 30; W. 44 inches. Lent by Charles Wetherill MacDuff Smith. EDITH CAVELL, 1918. Painted in Newport, Rhode Island; autumn. H. 45; W. 63 inches. THE STUDIO, 1919. The artist’s studio at 146 East 19th Street, New York.