George Bellows Revisited
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George Bellows Revisited George Bellows Revisited: New Considerations of the Painter’s Oeuvre Edited by M. Melissa Wolfe George Bellows Revisited: New Considerations of the Painter’s Oeuvre Edited by M. Melissa Wolfe This book first published 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2016 by M. Melissa Wolfe and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-1007-X ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-1007-4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations .................................................................................... vii Preface ....................................................................................................... xv Nannette V. Maciejunes Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 M. Melissa Wolfe George Bellows: Reviews and Reflections .................................................. 7 Charles Brock Canonizing George Bellows, “The Fair-Haired Boy of American Art” .... 25 Randall Griffey Bellows and Hopper: Crossed Paths .......................................................... 41 Didier Ottinger Hugo Reisinger: George Bellows’ Unknown Patron ................................. 53 Susanne Scharf George Bellows and the Complication of Race ......................................... 71 Martin A. Berger Hazing and Other Violent Rituals .............................................................. 87 John Fagg George Bellows and Religious Art: From Subtlety to Sonic Hyperbole .... 111 Leo Mazow From Realism to Idealism: George Bellows Goes to War ....................... 131 David M. Lubin George Bellows’ Blues (and Other Colors) ............................................. 153 Douglas Tallack Contributors ............................................................................................. 167 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1-1 George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey's, 1909. Oil on canvas, 36 3/16 x 48 1/4 in. (92.00 x 122.60 cm). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection, 1133.1922. Figure 1-2 George Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo, 1924. Oil on canvas, 51 1/8 x 63 1/4 in. (129.9 x 160.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Purchase with funds from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 31.95. Figure 1-3 George Bellows, details of self-portraits in Stag at Sharkey’s and Dempsey and Firpo. Figure 1-4 George Bellows, New York, 1911. Oil on canvas, 42 x 60 in. (106.7 x 152.4 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1986.72.1. Figure 1-5 George Bellows, Fisherman’s Family, 1923. Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 48.75 in. (97.79 x 123.83 cm). Private Collection. Figure 1-6 George Bellows, Two Women, 1924. Oil on canvas, 59 1/4 x 65 1/2 in. (150.5 x 166.4 cm). Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2014.25. Photography by Edward C. Robinson III. Figure 1-7 George Bellows, The Germans Arrive, 1918. Oil on canvas, 49 1/2 x 79 1/4 in. (125.73 x 201.3 cm). Ian and Annette Cumming Collection. Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Figure 1-8 R. B. Kitaj. Whistler vs Ruskin, 1992. Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm). Copyright R. B. Kitaj Estate. Figure 2-1 Cover of George Bellows (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2012), reproduced with permission of the publisher. Figure 2-2 Princeton boxing coach and art instructor Joe Brown demonstrating anatomy to his sculpture class. The student model is also a boxing pupil. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) viii List of Illustrations Figure 2-3 Princeton boxing coach and art instructor Joe Brown (C) in ring refereeing two of his students. (Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) Figure 2-4 George Bellows, Riverfront No.1, 1915. Oil on canvas, 45 3/8 in. x 63 1/8 in. (115.25 cm x 160.35 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Museum Purchase, Howald Fund, 1951.011. Figure 2-5 George Bellows, The Shower-Bath (Second State), 1917. Lithograph, 16 1/16 x 23 7/8 in. (40.8 x 60.64 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Museum Purchase with funds provided by Eloise Bragdon, by exchange, 2012.026. Figure 3-1 Edward Hopper, Day After the Funeral, 1925. Watercolor on paper, 12.75 x 20 in. (32.4 x 50.8 cm.). Private Collection. Image courtesy Hammer Galleries. Figure 3-2 George Bellows, Pennsylvania Station Excavation, ca. 1907– 08. Oil on canvas, 31 3/16 x 38 1/4 in. (79.2 x 97.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 67.205.1. Photo: Brooklyn Museum. Figure 3-3 Edward Hopper, The Bootleggers, 1925. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 38 in. (76.52 x 96.52 cm). Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, Museum Purchase: Currier Funds, 1956.4. Figure 3-4 George Bellows, Polo at Lakewood, 1910. Oil on canvas, 45 1/4 x 63 1/2 in. (114.94 x 161.29 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio. Columbus Art Association Purchase, 1911.001. Figure 3-5 Edward Hopper, Sunday, 1926. Oil on canvas, 29 x 34 in. (73.66 x 86.36 cm.). The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1926. Image courtesy Bridgman Images. Figure 3-6 George Bellows, The Big Dory, 1913. Oil on panel, 18 x 22 in. (45.72 x 55.88 cm). New Britain Museum of American Art, Harriet Russel Stanley Fund, 1944.21. Figure 3-7. Edward Hopper, Edward Hopper Boxing with Wallace Tremper, 1900. Pen and ink on paper. From Gail Levin, Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography. Berkley: University of California Press, 1995. George Bellows Revisited: New Considerations of the Painter’s Oeuvre ix Figure 3-8 Edward Hopper, House by the Railroad, 1925. Oil on canvas, 24 x 29 in. (61 x 73.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Given anonymously, 3.1930. Figure 4-1 George Bellows, Up the Hudson, 1908. Oil on canvas, 35 7/8 x 48 1/8 in. (91.1 x 122.2 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Hugo Reisinger, 1911 (11.17). Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY. Figure 4-2 Anders Zorn, Hugo Reisinger, 1907. Oil on canvas, overall: 53 3/8 x 39 9/16 in. (135.5 x 100.5 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Curt H. Reisinger, 1957.4.3. Figure 4-3 George Bellows, A Morning Snow—Hudson River, 1910. Oil on canvas, 45 1/16 x 63 3/16 in. (114.5 x 160.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mrs. Daniel Catlin, 51.96. Photograph courtesy the Brooklyn Museum. Figure 4-4 Wurts Bros., 993 5th Avenue. H. Reisinger residence, ballroom, ca. 1910. Dry collodion negative, 11 x 14 in. (27.94 x 35.56 cm). Collection of the Museum of the City of New York, x2010.7.10646. Figure 4-5 Wurts Bros., 993 5th Avenue. H. Reisinger residence, hall, ca. 1911. 11 x 14 in. (27.94 x 35.56 cm). Collection of the Museum of the City of New York, x2010.7.10649. Figure 4-6 George Bellows, The Bridge, Blackwell’s Island, 1909. Oil on canvas, 34 1/16 x 44 1/16 in. (86.5 x 111.9 cm). Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1912.506. Photograph by Photography Incorporated, Toledo. Figure 5-1 John George Brown, The Longshoreman’s Noon, 1879. Oil on canvas, 33 1/16 x 50 1/8 in. (84 x 127.3 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington. Corcoran Collection, Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund, 2014.136.2. Figure 5-2 Ohman Map Co., “Map of the borough of Manhattan and part of the Bronx showing location and extent of racial colonies,” 1920. Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. x List of Illustrations Figure 5-3 George Bellows, Tin Can Battle, San Juan Hill, New York, 1907. Crayon, ink, and charcoal on paper, 30 5/8 x 34 3/8 in. (77.79 x 87.3 cm). Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Anna R. and Frank M. Hall Charitable Trust, H-272.1947. Photo © Sheldon Museum of Art. Figure 5-4 George Bellows, Sixteen East Gay Street, 1923–24. Lithograph, 9 1/4 x 11 3/4 in. (23.5 x 29.85 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Museum Purchase, Mrs. H.B. Arnold Memorial Fund, by exchange, 2002.018.024. Figure 5-5 George Bellows, Both Members of This Club, 1909. Oil on canvas, 45 1/4 x 63 3/16 in. (115 x 160.5 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale Collection, 1944.13.1. Figure 5-6 George Bellows, The Law Is Too Slow, 1923. Lithograph, 18 5/8 x 3 3/4 in. (47.31 x 9.53 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Gift of Jeffrey Shedd, 1980.037. Figure 6-1 George Bellows, I Remember Being Initiated into the Frat, 1912. Graphite, conté crayon, and ink on paper, 19 x 23 1/2 in. (48.26 x 59.69 cm). Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Gift of Mrs. Joseph R. Taylor, 1940.020. Figure 6-2 George Bellows, “One of the Freshman War Heroes.” Illustration in The Makio, 1904, p. 51. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Packard Library Fund Purchase, SC2009.002.004.51. Figure 6-3 George Bellows, “A Game at Delaware in 1912.” Illustration in The Makio, 1904, p. 52. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Packard Library Fund Purchase, SC2009.002.004.52. Figure 6-4 George Bellows, Election Night, Times Square, 1906. Charcoal, lithographic crayon, conté crayon, and ink on paper, 18 3/16 x 26 in.