George Wesley Bellows

Lot Description George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) Splinter Beach signed 'Geo Bellows-' (upper left)--inscribed with title (in the margin) crayon, ink and crayon wash over transfer lithograph 17¼ x 22¾ in. (43.2 x 57.8 cm.), image; 21½ x 28 in. (54.6 x 71.1 cm.), sheet Executed in 1913. Provenance The artist. Emma S. Bellows, wife of the above, gift from the above. Robert Shand, 1951. George K. Allison, 1977. Dr. and Mrs. Harold Rifkin, New York, 1979. Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York, 1999. Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2005. Pre-Lot Text PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION Literature The Artist's Record Book A, p. 132. The Masses, July 1913, no. 4, pp. 10-11, illustrated. C.H. Morgan, George Bellows: Painter of America, New York, 1965, p. 152. W.L. O'Neill, Echoes of Revolt: The Masses, 1911-1917, Chicago, Illinois, 1966, p. 161, illustrated. D. Braider, George Bellows and the Ashcan School of Painting, New York, 1971, p. 76. R. Zurier, Art for The Masses: A Radical Magazine and Its Graphics, 1911-1917, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1988, pp. 147, 154, 168-69, 201, n. 27, The Masses illustration illustrated. M. Doezema, George Bellows and Urban America, New Haven, Connecticut, 1992, pp. 188, 190, illustrated. M. Quick, et al., The Paintings of George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 46, fig. 42, illustrated. C. Brock, et al., George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2012, p. 214. Exhibited New York, McDowell Club, 1913. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Watercolor Society, 1913. East Hampton, New York, Guild Hall Museum, American Masters: An Exhibition Inaugurating the Renovation of Guild Hall Museum, May 25-June 28, 1989. View Lot Notes > Splinter Beach is a particularly fine example of George Bellows' work, not only for its superb quality and daring use of mixed media, but also for its subject matter. A leader of the Ashcan movement, Bellows spent much of his career frequenting areas where people congregated, from rowdy tenements and boxing halls to polo fields and well-manicured parks. As in the present work, he always approached his subject in earnest, masterfully capturing the spirit and energy of the scene as well as its unique character. Splinter Beach is one of an important series of illustrations that Bellows produced for the socialist magazine The Masses in 1913. These drawings are all complex, multi-figural compositions with an underlying social commentary that "represent the culmination of the first mature phase of Bellows's oeuvre." (M. Doezema, George Bellows and Urban America, New Haven, Connecticut, 1992, pp. 186-87) Bellows joined the group of artists working on The Masses in April 1913 in large part due to the urging of fellow artist John Sloan, who was the informal art editor at the time. "Sloan was largely responsible for making The Masses a vehicle for some of the finest graphics of the period. A sensitive treatment of artwork in layout as well as production drew visual artists with differing attitudes toward socialism...Without question, a seductively ebullient atmosphere surrounded the Masses crowd--a gathering of energetic men and women who were heady with new ideas and eager optimism." (George Bellows and Urban America, pp. 184-85) Bellows was drawn to the freedom and energy of those involved with the magazine, writing that The Masses, "offers the opportunity which artists and writers of young enthusiastic and revolutionary spirit have always wished for in this country." (George Bellows and Urban America, p. 185) Bellows first work for the magazine was "a series of ambitious drawings, remarkable for their technical experimentation and expressive richness." (George Bellows and Urban America, pp. 186-87) In addition to Splinter Beach, which was illustrated in the July 1913 issue, these include: The Business Men's Class (Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts), illustrated in the April 1913 issue; Philosopher-on-the-Rock (Yvette Eastman, Gay Head, Massachusetts), illustrated in the June 1913 issue; and Why Don't They Go to the Country for a Vacation? (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California), illustrated in the August 1913 issue. Always ahead of his time in his experimentation with various media, these works are not merely drawings, but various media over transfer lithographs. Here Bellows splendidly combines his superb draftsmanship with his robust, spontaneous technique. Rebecca Zurier writes, "Although Bellows is regarded as making his first lithographs in 1916, a group of drawings published in The Masses in 1913 appear to be based on previously unrecorded proofs of transfer lithographs that were cut, pasted, and drawn over in ink. No other impressions of these images are known." (Art for The Masses: A Radical Magazine and Its Graphics, 1911-1917, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1988, p. 200, n. 16) This early foray into experimental lithography demonstrates the influence of Daumier, whose cartoons Bellows studied, inspiring him to draw in crayon and "to experiment with lithography at a time when etching was still the preferred medium of 'artistic' printmakers," (Art for The Masses: A Radical Magazine and Its Graphics, 1911-1917, p. 130) and places Bellows among an esteemed group of artists who worked in various media over prints including Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer and Jasper Johns. In Splinter Beach, Bellows adeptly manipulates mixed media to create a complex and dynamic composition that captures the character of the gritty swim spot and crowd that it attracted while making a biting social commentary. Bellows based the work on multiple single figure sketches, combining them into a congested riverside scene that revisits the theme of his 1907 oil painting Forty-two Kids (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), which itself recalls Thomas Eakins' more bucolic The Swimming Hole (1844-45, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, Texas). Both Splinter Beach and Forty-two Kids depict a group of young boys cavorting by the water and are filled with various characters and vignettes. These are not the seaside dalliances of the wealthy, rather they are the urban adventures of the lower classes as they attempt to get brief respite from the stifling summer heat. In both works Bellows captures the playful spirit of the boys and the youthful energy of the scenes. Forty-two Kids is a larger work that focuses on the foreground, employing bold brushwork and a strong use of light and shadow to capture the activity on the dock and in the river. In contrast, Splinter Beach is a more complex scene as the closely grouped figures are set against a fully rendered cityscape and is executed with a rougher aesthetic that suited its intended audience. "It seems appropriate, then, that Bellows evoked the comics in drawings like Splinter Beach. If the urban masses ever looked at The Masses, they would have seen pictures that showed their world in a manner they could recognize. No other contemporary art could make that claim." (Art for The Masses: A Radical Magazine and Its Graphics, 1911-1917, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1988, p. 154) Bellows had an affinity for the Splinter Beach subject first depicting the scene in a 1912 drawing (Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts), followed by the present work the next year. In 1916, he produced a lithograph also titled Splinter Beach based on the present work. A 1915 article in International Studio said of Bellows, "The artist himself gives us valuable critical assistance when he declares that he aims at 'manliness, frankness, and love of the game,' and again when he tells us that he is interested in 'the steam and sweat of the street.' And so he loves to paint the prize fight, the polo game, the circus, children swimming - anything that has in it life, joyousness, action, the movement of humans at play...He is genuinely refreshing and entertaining in the peculiarly same and happy way of one who has boyish perceptions and who invariably pauses by the way to observe the healthy comedy of everyday life." (quoted in M. Doezema, "Tenement Life: Cliff Dwellers, 1906-1913" in C. Brock et al., George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, 2012, Washington, D.C., pp. 53-54) Splinter Beach manifests this comment and, with its bold composition, gritty character, and progressive use of media demonstrates Bellows at the height of his abilities.

LOT 6 GEORGE WESLEY BELLOWS 1882 - 1925 INTRODUCING GEORGE CARPENTIER (MASON 98) Lithograph, 1921, signed in pencil, titled and inscribed 'Bolton Brown - imp' by the printer, from the edition of c. 50, on thin Japan paper, framed 370 by 532 mm 14 1/2 by 21 in sheet 408 by 588 mm 16 1/8 by 23 1/8 in

Lot 14 George Bellows (1882-1925) BUSINESS MEN'S BATH (MASON 145) Lithograph, 1923, on cream wove Japan, signed and titled in pencil, annotated 'Bolton Brown-imp', edition of 43, lightstain and matstain, affixed with tape along top and top of left and right sheet edges and center of bottom sheet edge verso to top mat, old glue residue with associated staining along top sheet edge and at bottom sheet corners, a few unobtrusive printer's and handling creases in the margins, some light abrasion at top left sheet edge verso, a small foxing spot verso, otherwise in good condition, with (full?) margins, framed. 11 7/8 x 17 1/8 inches; 302 x 435 mm. Sheet 14 1/4 x 19 1/8 inches; 362 x 486 mm. Provenance: H.V. Allison & Co., Inc. Acquired from the above in 1969 by the family of the present owner C Estimate $2,000-3,000 Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Doyle New York shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.

GEORGE BELLOWS Preliminaries. Lithograph on smooth, cream wove paper, 1916. 400x495 mm; 15 3/4x19 1/2 inches, trimmed margins. Edition of 67. Signed, titled, dedicated and inscribed "No. 65" in pencil, lower margin. A superb, dark and richly-inked impression of this important lithograph. The scene shows high society figures, notably--and remarkably for the time--well-heeled, fashionable women, attending a prize-fight at Madison Square Garden, New York. This is Bellow's only prize-fight lithograph in which women are present. Mason 24. Estimate $20,000-30,000

George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) The Invincible Molly Brown signed and inscribed 'Yours truly/Geo W Bellows' (lower right) ink on board 14¼ x 18¾ in. (36.2 x 47.6 cm.) Executed circa 1906-1908. The present drawing was given by George Bellows to Jessie Brown on the occasion of her wedding to Earl Woodworth. In this picture, George Bellows depicts himself standing behind the girl and directly to her right is fellow artist Robert Henri.