THE PAINTINGS of George Bellows by HENRY ADAMS

THE PAINTINGS OF George Bellows BY HENRY ADAMS

American painter George Bellows achieved great success at a young age and went on to earn countless honors during his brief lifetime. Here, in an article timed to coincide with an important traveling retrospective ofBellows's work, the curator of American art at the Nelson- Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, discusses the artist's life and his interest in systems of color and composition. he career of George Franitig, Ihe Organ Boy. 1907. oil. 48x34'/«. CQI- Bellows (1882-1925) is leolion the Nelson-Atkins one of the great suc- MUGfijm of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. The artist cess stories of Ameri- evokesa whole world can art. Most other through the face of this prominent American realists, even awkward, adolescent T street urchin. Bellows such giants as Winslow Homer and himself was iong-limbed Thomas Eakins, struggled for years and gsngiing and had an odd-shaped face, and lo gain recognition and achieved this painting couid repre- real feme only after their death. Bel- sent a kind of surrogate lows, however, was recognized as a self-portrait. major figure almost from tbe moment he arrived in New York City at the age of twenty-four. He had received every imaginable artis- üc honor before he was thirty and, unlike many prodigies, he continued to produce masterworks up to the üme of his early death.

THE EARLY YEARS Early in the fall of 1905, Bellows packed a carpethag and hoarded the Irán from his hometown of Colum- bus, Ohio, to New York City, where he rented a room at the YMCA for Kea week and enrolled in the New ^rk School of Art There, two expe- riences revolutionized his outlook. The first was his encounter with New York City, which was rapidly being transformed into the world's largest city—this was a period of explosive growth, marked by the construction of the first skyscrapers as well as other huge building projects. The heroic scale of the city, its dynamic energy, and the pathos of its poverty all made an indelible impression on this young man from the Midwest

Equally significant was Bellows's encounter with Robert Henri, the most charismatic and effective leacher of the time. A foe of the fehionable society portraiture then dominating American painting, Henri was the leader of a group of former newspaper illustrators from Philadelphia who applied to painting the sort of quickly observed, tough- piinded realism they had developed in their newspaper work. It is said Opposite page: Forty-Two Kids, 1907, oii, A2Ve Above: ne Bridge, Btacimeii s island, •\Qi>i, I 6DV1. Coiiection The Corcoran Gaiiery of Art, olt, 34'/is X 44ViG. Collection Toledo Museum that when Henri first looked WashingtoD, DC. Wiiiiam A. Ciark Fund. Per- of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Gift of Edward Drum- «irough the drawings Bellows had haps no other American painter—certainly mond Library. This painting shows the brought with him firom Ohio—ele- none so young—has succeeded in creating Queensborough Bridge soaring overhead like aesthetic unity out of foriy-two active, clearly a cathedral, making tne ships beneath It seem ^t little cartoons and sketches in lit, we 11-characterized figures. The key to the iike smaii toys. "le style of Charles Dana Gibson— unity of this painting ties In the central line of five kids preparing to dive off the pier, wliich nis comment was, "Haven't I seen becomes a kind of study in sequential move- öiese before?" It didn't take Bellows ment, iike one ol Eadweard fLiuybridge's pho- long to get the message. Under tographs of human locomotion. It is as if a singlo boy was first looking down at the Henri's prodding, he abruptly ground, then turhing tovaara the water, then «"•ned from drawing Gibson Girls to running toward It, then taking the cold plunge, and ffnaily bobbing to the surface. stag at S/iafkey's, 1909, oil, 3SVJ x ASVi. Collection Cleveland Museum sketching the life of the streets. a painter. With astonishing speed. ot Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection, Looking closely, Within a year of his arrival, he was Bellows progressed from portrait we cah recognize the remarkable lib- rapidly turning out paintings that studies to complex figure composi- erties that Bellows took viiith render- remain landmarks in the history of ing the huíTtan figure, yet in some tions. While his early works closely mysterious way he captured perfectly American art followed Henri and other members the savage spirit of these bouts, the anmal violence of two muscular men In 1908, Henri, along with seven of the Eight, within a few years he pounding away at each other with full of his followers, organized an exhibi- had artistically surpassed his teach- force. When someone once criticized tion entitled 'The Eight" at Manhat- ers in terms of both technical and the anatomy, Betiows countered: "I don't know anything about boxing. tan's Macbeth Galleries. Combining emotional power. Im just painting two men trying to kiti Social Realism and a new freedom of Bellows achieved fame far more each other," execution with social radicalism, the quickly than any of Henri's follow- show created a sensation. While the ers, John Sloan, who was over forty artists were denounced as "Apostles before he sold his first oO painting, of Ugliness," crowds streamed in to could never quite hide his annoy- see their work and the exhibition ance at Bellows's success. While was a huge commercial success. As Sloan, George Luks, Everett Shinn, it happened. Bellows was too young to be included in the exhibition of William Glackens, Maurice Prender- the Eight, but he was friendly with gast, and even Henri himself had all the participants and soon, in the great difficulty getting their work words of one New York newspaper, into juried exhibitions. Bellows did "out-eighted the Eight," not, since his technical bravura impressed even conservative land- Both timing and talent made Bel- scape painters. Within a year of nis lows's success possible. The Eight arrival In Manhattan, BeOowshaa had already prepared people for the his paintings hanging at the Annual kind of subject matter tbat he depict- Exhibition of the National Academy ed, but none of tlie other members of Design, a highly competitive of the Eight could match Bellows as juried exhibition; within two years he had begun to gather awards, Leit: Aunt Fanny ¡Old snch as the prestigious Hallgarten Lady In Blackj, prize; within three years he was 1920, oil, 44Vai 341/1. Collec- elected to the National Academy of lion Des Design, the youngest person ever to Maines Art receive such recognition; within Center, Oes Moines, towa. four years he had sold a painting to The composi- the Pennsylvania Academy of the tion for this work was de- Fine Arts; and within five years one rived from a of his paintings had been purchased division otthe for the permanent collecfion of New canvas accord- ing to the meth- York City's Metropolitan Museum of ods of Jay Art—as great an honor then as it Is H am bridge's book Dynamic today Symmetry in Composition. Close values, ellows's first significant combines with an Increased paintings were studies use of glazing of children, such as for shadows, Frankie, the Organ Boy. entiance ttie sense of inti- a portrait of an awk- macy in this ward, adolescent street urchin. iriensely alive B painting ot Bel- These canvases are similar to the lowB's moth- work of Robert Henri but are gener- er's sister, who ally more powerful—less sentimen- did not marry until extremely tal. Henri, for example, would surely late in lite. have attempted to sweeten or tone down Frankie's adolescent awk- wardness. After these portraits. Bel- lows moved on to a series of paintings showing figures in a setting: His first were two canvases of boys skinny-dipping in the East River. The second of these swimming scenes is a masterpiece, Forty-Two night: Katherine Rosen. 1921,ail, 53 ï43Ve. Col- Kids, which does indeed contain lection Yale University Art forty-two kids—it makes an interest- Gallery, New Haven, Con- ing game to locate and count them. necticut. Bequest of Stephen Carl ton Clark. Very often with Bellows these figure After Bellows's marriage, compositions seem to refer back to his subject matter shitted from tough, urhan scenes the early portraits—to draw their to intimate portraits and inspiration from them. Forty-Two genre scenes of his Kids, for example, shows boys friends and family. Most of his best late portraits whose gangling physique is identi- depict women rather than cal to that of Frankie; it is as though men, and ttiis wonderfully graceful and romantic we are suddenly confronted with work portrays the daugh- forly-two little "Franldes" in various ter of his neighbor in stages of undress. Woodstock, New York.

Not everyone liked Forty-Two Kié when it was first exhibited, but it attracted considerable attention. One critic complained that the boys looked "more like maggots than humans," and labeled the painting a tour de force in absurdity." The Nm York Herald, however, called lie work "one of the most original and vivacious canvases in the shoV and added that "an artist need never leave Manhattan Island if it yields ii'm pictures like this." Bellows's career was launched. Forty-Two Kids was followed by a series of remark- äole paintings of the Hudson River, Right; The Crucito- /oo, 1923, oii, 59V2 X 68V2. Coiiection Lutheran Brother- hood. Minneapoits, Minnesota. Wtiiie Beiiows used oniy three coiors In this work, the effect is surprisingiy compiete. Using an indirect painting method, he underpainted not in one coior but in two compiementary coiors. He Ihen compieted the painting by work- Ing over portion of the design with a third.

Aboue: Mrs. T. In Wine Silk, Left; Lady Jean, 1924. Marriage altered both the mood 1919, o'rl, 48 X 38. Coiiection oii, 72 I 36. Caiiection Mitcheii Museum, Mt. Vernon, Yale University Art and subject matter of Bellows's liiirois. Gittol John and Gaiiery, New Haven, work. His early canvases had heen EleanorR. Milcheii. intwo Connecticut. Bequest the work of an unattached young cioseiy reiated paintings of a of Stephen Cari ton Chicago woinsn. iMrs. Mary Ciark. The history of man living in rented rooms in the Brown Tyler, whom he met at a art provides no more big city. His favorite subjects- dinner party in 1919, Beiiovjs wonderfui expression tough street kids, boxing matches, [nterestingiy combined the of the fantasy of effects of age and romantic chiidhood. as weii as boys swimming, overpowering beauty. In this first portrait, of the desire of chil- buildings, and dark streets—were Mrs. Tyler wears a wonderfui dren to be taken seri- dress of purpie siik; in the sec- ousiy, than this por- all part of a predominantly mascu- ond Mrs. 7. in Crearri Silk ¡not trait. The coior sys- line, often violent world. Suddenly, shown), she appears in the tem used for this Bellows was a family man with same dress she had worn at painting is based on her wedding forty-two years the reiatianships of domestic responsibilities in a house- earlier, in both, Beiiows very the three primary coi- hold comprised entirely of women— movingly suggests how attrac- ors—red, yeiiow. and his wife, mother, aunt, and two tive Mrs. Tyler must fiave been blue. as a yoLjrg woman while at the daughters—and the subject matter same time suggesting her of his paintings began to shift from vivacity and inteiiigence in oid age. Her pose and hands con- tough urban scenes to country land- vey a sense of graciousness scapes and intimate portraits or and almost bird i Ike deiicscy. genre scenes of friends and family. and her face shows both inteiiigence and fortitude. A second change had to do wifli a new artistic awareness that repre- sented a kind of loss of innocence. including The Bridge, Blackwell's of American painting, were executed In 1913, Bellows saw the Armory Island, which shows the Queensbor- in less than five years, when Bellows Show in New York City, a huge edii- ough Bridge soaring overhead like a was not yet tliirty. bition that introduced modernist cathedra], making the ships beneath European art to Americans for the it seem like small toys. THE LATER PHASE first time. In 1912, a realist painter Last come Bellows's most famous Around 1910. Bellows began to such as Bellows could view himself works—his boxing pictures such as experience a significant change of as a member of the artistic van- Stag at Sharkey's. Sharkey. once a style. His technique, his subject mat- guard; after 1913, he was thrustinto professional boxer, ran a saloon ter, and his interests shifted in the role of conservafive and forced wbere prizefights were held. Public response to new factors both in his to come to terms with new and per- boxing matcbes were illegal in New personal life and in the American art plexing modernist developments. York City at the time, but Sharkey world. A major factor was his mar- Like most artists of his genera- got around this regulation by calling riage in September of 1910 to Emma tion. Bellows was too rooted in nine- his saloon a private club and Story, a handsome, strong-willed teenth-century methods to adopt describing the tickets to the fight as young woman from Upper Mont- modernist styles but too startled by membership certificates for the clair. New Jersey. In 1911, his first daughter. Anne, was born; in 1915, a the new ideas to continue unshaken club. Bellows wonderfully evokes second daughter followed, named in his old ways. As a kind of compra the wisecracks and gestures of the Jean, after painter Eugene Speicher, mise with modernism, be focused audience and tbe stale, smoky air. a close fiiend of the artisf s. on new techniques for presenting The boxing paintings, all landmarks realist subject matter so that the

56 AhffiRICAN ARTIBT underlying color organization and then used diagonals or subdivisions of his career, often using a specially compositional design would con- of this square to generate further designed compass to establish his form to abstract principles. Bellows shapes. This relatively simple geo- ¡principle measurements. In A Morn- had already begun to experiment metric system tended to produce ing Snow—Hudson River, Bellows with color and design systems, but strong, powerful compositions. used Golden Section points on the after 1913, his experiments became There are many variations on this edge of the canvas to define the increasingly intricate, especially in approach, one of which was placement of key verticals and hori- his portraits and his paintings of the employed for Stag at Sharkey's. zontal elements. The position of the sea. The following is a brief summa- First, the painting is divided vertical- ice in the front of the picture, the far ry of the principal systems he used. ly through the middle of the paint- banks ofthe river, the rail fence, and A word of caution: Some of the sys- ing, along the central figure. If diag- the left side of the pile driver are aO tems Bellows used are too compli- onals are drawn along the top of this defined by Golden Section ratios. cated to describe in detail, and this line to both rebatments (the short account can indicate only the central sides of the painting) and verticals Dynamic Symmetry. Dynamic ideas behind some of them. Michael are drawn at the intersections of symmetry was devised by Jay Ham- Quick's wonderful catalog essay for these diagonals, many of the lines bridge, a Canadian-born painter and the current Bellows exhibition ana- seem to conform to the painting's illustrator who claimed that the lyzes these systems in detail and composition. This occurs most technique had been used by the suggests farther readings. closely in the bent leg of the right- ancient Greeks and others. This hand boxer. complex system, which offers GEOMETRIC SYSTEMS The Rebatment For the most part. The Golden Section. The Golden Bellows derived the geometry of his Section is an incommensurable pro- A Morning Snow—Hudson River, 1910. oll. compositions from the shape of the portion approximately equal to 0.618 451/2 s 63Ví. Coliedion Brooklyn Museum of canvas. Many of his early paintings to one. Celebrated since ancient Art, Brooklyn, New Vork. Gift of Mrs. Oaniel use a compositional system based Catlin. Bellows used Golden Section points on Greek times, it is the proportion of Ihe edge ol the canvas to define the piacement on the rebatment of the canvas— regular and continuous growth and ot key verticals and horizontal elements. The that is, the painting's short side. He is found in such shapes as the spiral position of the ice near the front of the picture, the far banks of the river, the raii fence, and used this measurement to divide the of sea shells and animal horns. Bel- the left side of the pile driver are all defined by long side, creating a square. He lows used this ratio through much Golden Section ratios. almost infinite compositional possi- ; bilities, divides the rectangle into ' parts that bear a relationship both to each other and to the whole. The system's basic proportions are one, • the square root of two, the square f root of three, and the square root of f five. The fascinating aspect of the f system is that it can create subdivi- f sions directly proportional to larger f! units of the design. Use of dynamic f symmetry tends to lead to planar I' designs with a strong demarcation í into sections. Bellows's paintings f using this approach tend toward í stiffiiess and bilateral symmetry. î

I! The Maratta Compositional Sjg- k tern. Unlike other systems that Bel- (• lows used, the compositional system s of Hardesty Maratta was based not i upon the shape of the canvas but ll upon an internal system of regular I equilateral triangles. Essentially, il Bellows, would draw a grid of equi-ï lateral triangles and place the main E elements of his composition on this p weh of diagonal lines. a COLOR SYSTEMS Í The Palette of Denman Ross. Inij 1912, Denman Ross, a teacher atij Harvard University, published OB^, Drawing and Painting, proposiiig a^ different type of predeterminedid palette. Ross was most interested inii value—the relative darkness or lightness of a color—and proposed laying out a set palette with seven variations of value, from tiie lightest. at the top to the darkest at the bot- tom. These variations were created by mixing white or black into the color, resulting in color that achieved its greatest intensity atthe,^ middle level of value and grew.-- duller in the darks and paler in the whites. Although it offered a useful scheme for organizhig values, this approach had disadvantages—the Top: Dempsey ana Firpo, t924, oil, 51 x 62V4. Above: My House. tVoodstocit, 1924, oii, 173A color choice was limited; the lights Coiiection The Whitney Museum of Art. New x 22. Courtesy the Los Angeles County Muse- tended to get too pale and the darks, York, New York. Here, the primary method of um of Art, Los Angeles, California. Diana and creating form is through the pairing ol the coi- Sid Avery Trust. Painted in brilliant, clear, har- too dull. Bellows used this system, ors green and orange. This basic interaction monious cotor, this i ate work has a joyous principally for portraits. can be seen most clearly In the way the back- quality quite unlike the tense energy ol Bei- ground figures are modeied. Note how flat and lows s eariy iandscapes. The picture ctearly Insubstantiai the lighters in Stagal Stiarkeys reveáis his skili, his stylistic sophistication, The Maratta Color System. The appear when compared with the so i id, monu- and his knowledge of painting methods. mental figures In this work. color system of Hardesty Maratta li based on the traditional color trian • gle formed hy the primary color; red, blue, and yellow. Every othei color is made by combining two oi more of these three. Maratta nat;- manufacturers mix every one of thru iwelve primary, Anne In While. 1920, oii, 53 I 43. Collection secondary, and Carnegie Museum o( tertiary colors and Art, Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, Patrons Art precisely grayed Fund, In his later shades of each, all paintings. Bellows ofwhich were indi- became quite interested in the rich vidually packaged darks and the sense and numbered, ot modeling in Oid Master paintings. Maratta assigned Here, Ihe strong iigtit a specific musical on Beiiows's daughter in her summer note to eacb color dress, vuhicli would and then recom- have tiatlened tiie torms in Beiiows's mended systems early works, increas- to guide artists in es the sense ot the choosing harmoni- figure's voiume. ous combinations Qsing his range of The Dock Builders, premixed colors. 1916, o[l, 30x38, Collection Isaac The value of the Amolfl, Houston, system was that Teias. Courtesy Los artists could pre- Angeles County Museum ol Art, Los determine harmo- Angeles, California, nious "chords" of By the summer of 1B16, when he paint- color much as a ed this picture in composer of music Maine, Bellows was does. Since the Fn compiete com- mand of the iViaratta colors were theo- color system. Using relically created at tints, he achieved a convincing effect of equal intervals Bright sunlight on the from one another, foreground. In con- it was easy for an trast, he only partially Blehded the colors artist to almost used in the fore- mathematically ground rocks and logs since miiirg col- choose precise ors wouEd have neu- and unusual rela- traiized them. tionships. As he worked with this system. Bellows grew freer and bolder \dth the use of color, often departing from strict adherence to Maratta's system. The system, however, seems to have encouraged him to work with unusual color combina- dons.

Bellows originally used the Marat- te system. He later tried the Den- man Ross system but was disap- pointed by the paleness and dull- ness of the colors. He returned to lie Maratta method but systemati- •^y chose those color chords that contained hues of peak or near-peak intensity. By the summer of 1916, when he painted The Dock Builders ^ Maine, Bellows was in complete Mmraand of this color system. With ™s, he achieved a convincing ^fe of bright sunlight on the fore- ^d In contrast, he only partially Wended the colors used in the fore- BToiuid rocks and logs since mixing dolors would neutralize them.

Continued on page SO new WO' résumé, including a list of exhibitions, France: fax: 42-22-12-36. to: Nail Foundation, 232 Boulevard de The Gite guide for fermhouse rent- for artists to view Lattre, 06140 Vence. France. als, sold in the United States, is called T^e French Farm and Village Holiday color slides! A SAMPUNG OF WORKSHOP PROGRAMS Guide. It is distributed by Hunter Summer workshops offer a more Publishing, 300 Raritan Center Park- focused and organized opportunity to way, P.O. Box 7816, Edison, NJ 08818- mogni-view... live and work in France, and we se- 7816; call: (201) 225-1900.« Nc riore prints, plug-in vievjers, project lected a sampling of those being of- Raint from the beauliful color and sharp fered this year to profile. Pat Van Gelder is a New York City- o( your ongrhGl transporencv The bi ghl image is held enactly where you based freelance writer who studied at - brilliahllv illurninoled ond absolute! Antíbes, France the Art Students League. She is the Jiluted by room lights — even in your The heautiful seaside town of Antibes author of the book Wildlife Artists at ted studio Nothing like it has ever bi Work (Watson-Guptill Publications). illabie before — Ifs almost like paint becomes quite crowded during the n Hie. For complete in form of i on. $e summer months, but the Picasso Mu- jress and pjione_numberlo Dept ß seum located there is worth strug- gling to see. In addition, there are the 62 Coiilns Way. Loke Oswego. Oregon 97035 Dominique Prévost Art Workshops BELLOWS at the Atelier du Safranier, which bring together artists who want to absorb Continued from page 59 the influence of the historic town and Indirect Paintii^. TTiroughout most !eam new techniques. Write: Domin- of his career. Bellows used the method ique Prévost Art Workshops, Atelier of direct painting—that is. he did not du Safranier, No. 2 bis, rue du Cannet, use underpainüng. In the last few ARTISTS 06600 Vieü Antibes, France; call: 93- years of his life, however, he began to 34-53-72. experiment with underpainting. He was inspired by tie book Secrets oftke WANTED! Cannes, France Old Masters, by Albert Abendschein. A well-known talent scout for the fine Just west of the town known for its The author argued that the color of art publishing industry Is reviewing annual film festival is the small village the famous Venetian painters had the work of artists interested in of La Napoule, where an American- been created by first modeling the entering the print market. ALL based foundation maintains achâteau forms in grisaille, or "dead color," and SUBJECTS AND MEDIUMS WILL and gardens for use by artists. The then going over this underpainting château was once the home and stu- with translucent glazes. Bellows de- BE CONSIDERED. Send slides or dio of the American sculptor Henry vised several interesting variations on photos, telephone # and SASE to; Clews and his wife Marie, and their this technique. In 1923, for example, WINNER'S CIRCLE descendants have maintained the in The Crucifixion, he underpainted facility as a place where French and not in one color but in two comple- Dept. AD, Box 9414, American artists can work. The foun- mentary colors and then completed North Hollywood, CA, 91609 dation also hosts workshops in land- the painting by working over portions (818) 766-3441 scape architecture, painting, and art of the design with a third, /¿diough history. Write: La Napoule Founda- he used only three colors, the effectis tion, Suite 411, 217 East 85th Street, surprisingly complete. New York. NY 10028 THE FINAL YEARS The Best in Video Nimes, France The most impressive aspect of Bel- • Summer workshops are offered at: lows's late work is his portraits. In COMTEUPOflARY Atelier de Calvisson. 304420 Cal\is- keeping with the shift in his subject WATERCOLOR UASTERS • son (Nimes), France. matter, most of his best late portraits PWUP PEARLSTEIN depict women rather than men. His DRAWS THE ARTISTS MODEL Resources women are not simply decorative; he suggests their temperament and their Videos o( B rammer, Kyou want to exchange your studio/ Ouiiler.Shapiniandolhsrs. home for one in France, you can ad- experience. In depicting women, Fmfl vidao catalofl vertise in French publications read by Bellows's range extended from the ARTISrS'l/IDEDPHOQUCTIDNS artists. Monsieur Soulillou estimated almost grotesque but intensely alive 97 windward Lane that a 6-line, 40-character advertise- portrait of ^««/ fanny, his mother's Brislnl, Rl 07809 ment would cost about S40 or S50. If sister (who did not marry until ex- possible, provide the text of the adver- tremely late in life), to a wonderfully gracefii] and romantic portrait of Katít- DPUHLSTEIN DNECHIS QWÍBB Eseese tisement in French. For information, DREiOaOWEflS D ntlDffOfllFHITS segsie erine Rosen, the daughter of his neigh- Shipping SI 00 Iftr one; S1 30 eacn adiMionji contact: Libération, 11 rue Eerenger, 7515 Paris, France; call: 76-19-56; fax: bor in Woodstock. New York. 42-72-94-93. Another publication is: Name Certainly one of the mostmovingof Address Art Press, 2 rue St. Simon, 75007 Paris, these pictures is virtually the last pic- , CJIy/SlalB Zip-

ÜÜ AMERLrAN ARTIST Enlarge Patterns, Pictures ture that Bellows completed before seum of Art in Ohio (October 11-janu- Projector is Simple! Fast! Accurate! his death—the delightful study en- ary 3. 1993) and the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (Febru- Projects an to: Drawing, Graph & Tracing Paper titled Lady Jean, in which he shows Wood, Other Surfaces. his daughter, Jean, dressed up in old ary20.1993-May9,1993). Theshow Victorian clothes. The history of art was curated by Michael Quick, the cu- provides no more wonderful expres- rator of American Art at the Los Ange- sion of die fantasy of childhood, as les County Museum, and Jane Myers, well as of the desire of children to be the associate curator of American Art taken seriously. Looking at this paint- at the Amon Carter Museum. For in- ing, it comes as no surprise to leam formation on the show or catalog, that Jean later became an actress and contact: Los Angeles County Museum performed on Broadway in New York of Art. 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los opposite Helen Hayes. Angeles, CA 90036. Adlu^t^DIa len^ enlarges by (raclions up "> ^Tl' Vtrâs for iJie äize you Ai&lii Cop^ uniirriileC ideas 'or crati designs. Bellows died rather suddenly at the Enlarge palle'iii, designs, ponrajts. still lites, landscapes, age of forty-two of appendicitis. He Henry Adams is the Samuel Sosland phoios. sltd^î dpäighs on coins and iswelry. Prpjecls tr) ËX3CI colors Does noj dâni^gs anginal Siripis insiruc- hadbeen in pain forseveral weeks but Curator of A m erica nArt at the Nelson- Irons. LJsQS lôusehold curreni and 60 âli bulb Ssnd didn't see a doctor, probably because Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, SIS 96 plus Î4.95 shipping 30 day money bacK guarantee he thought it would offend his wife, Missouri. Nonon, Depl. CT-5S5. eoi 2D12, New RoohellB, HY 1080: who was a Christian Scientist When her husband fell unconscious, Emma didcall a doctor, but by then it was too late. If s interesting to speculate about FAEGRE what Bellows would have accom- Continued from page 27 plished if he had lived longer and had Color is very significant to me be- died, say, in 1967, as did his classmate cause I don't always portray tbe col- Edward Hopper, rather than in 1925. ors of my subjects as they really are. Would he have floundered or would Although I want the pictures to seem he have pulled his work together and realistic, I also want them to commu- made more remarkable paintings? nicate my feelings. If I want the paint- Bellows's death came at an ambigu- ing to be melancholy, for example, I ous period in his work and caused use cool tones; if I want to express joy, him to miss many of the difficulties of I use warm hues. his generation, such as the Great Depression and the style change to No matter how hghtly I spray fixa- abstraction shortly afterward. tive on pastel, I find that it darkens values and deadenscoior intensity, so Í-- C S - = Such speculation, of course, will I use it sparingly. However, I some- always remain mere speculation— times use it in limited ways to inten- there's no way we will ever know. tionally darken areas that appear too What we do know is that shortly after light or too intense. I also rely on Bellows's death, a huge retrospective fixative when a painting surface be- of his work was held at The Metro- comes so saturated with pastel that politan Museum of Art and that, rather marks become increasingly difficult than killing his reputation, as is often to make; a little bit of fixative sprayed the case, it solidified his fame. Per- on the area will create a more coop- haps thefinal verdict of his worth was erative bed on which to lay new color. given by Robert Henri, who squired Some pastel artists use fixative as a Emma BeEows through the show. final step to "glue do%vn" pastel par- When he came to the end. he tiimed ticles that have not impregnated the to her, very close to tears, and said. "I fiber of the paper or üie grit of the always gave him my most severe criti- board. By doing this, they hope to BUYING DIRECT FROM UTRECHT cism because I thought he was my insure that framing materials won't A MAJOR MANUFACTURER best pupil. Now I am sure of it." • • Professional Artists Colors be discolored by loose pastel dust • SliîichaE • Paper Canvetlere once they have been fiâmed under BUY OTHER MANUFACTURERS glass. However, I have found another PRODUCTS AT IMPRESSIVE SAViNGS A rärospedive of Bellows's paintings— 3rard5 -Over 20.000 Hen IM of the largest groups of his works method that works well without un- mr assembled—currently provides a dermining the longevity of the pastel; UTRECHT MANUFACTURING CORP. rare opportunity to see sixty of Bellows's I begin by firmly tapping the edge of a finished painting on the tray of my 33 Thiny-Filth SI.Brooklyn. N.Y11232 mastemorks at one time. The show, Tel¡718) 7S8-2525 »ihich opened at the Los Angeles Countyeasel, vacuuming up whatever dust BRANCHES: COAST-TO-COAST JJíííKm of Art in California, is at The falls. Next. I take my painting outside 111 fouiinAve.Wewrork. NY lOfKÖ and spray it with air fiôm a small 260 SouIhBroaaSI.Pliilä.Peiina. 191112 rniittiey Museum of American Art in 1Í50 Eye SI NW. Washiiigliui.O C 30035 'êw York City until August 3, after compressor. The force of the air dis- 333 MsssactiL]SEIIsAve..B(isloíi, Mass 02115 lodges particles that are not thor- 15 Ea5(KirbïSI(KI. DelralMuli 4B202 ^nieh it travels to the Columbus Mu- 132 SouHiMicíiiganAve Ctiicago.111. 606M 1995 JniïersityAm.Beikeley,C3lil.9470a Copyright of American Artist is the property of F + W Media and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.