(1882-1925)
George Bellows was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1882. His father was an architect and
building contractor. Both of his parents originally came from eastern Long Island; his
mother was descended from a long line of Montauk whaling captains. Bellows was raised
in a frugal, conservative, Republican, Methodist household.
Bellows attended Ohio State University, where he made drawings for college publications
and played baseball–at one time contemplating a career as a professional ballplayer.
In 1904 he studied under painter Robert Henri at the New York School of Art. Bellows was to become a good friend
and one of Henri's prize pupils. From Henri, Bellows learned a broad, spontaneous style
using strong contrasts of light and dark. He eagerly took Henri's interest in
realistic subject matter taken from daily life.
Bellows 
taught at the Art Students League (1909-11). He was a member of the organizing committee for the famed Armory Show in 1913 and
was elected a full member of the National Academy. Unlike most of his contemporaries,
Bellows never traveled to Europe. He died of peritonitis subsequent to a ruptured
appendix in January 1925. In 1957, the National Gallery chose the work of George
Bellows as the subject for its first-ever exhibition devoted to an American
artist.
Buy the catalogue An American Pulse: The
Lithographs of George Wesley Bellows.
