I confess that I had not heard of American artist George Bellows until this exhibition, George Bellows (1882-1925): Modern American Life. The advertising poster shows a violent clash in a male boxing match in which neither fighter appears to be observing the Queensberry Rules. This is because it is an illegal fight rather than boxing, commonplace in the poorer part of New York City at the time. It is full of colour, energy, and the occasional remarkable face appearing out of the crowd. Striking stuff.
I shall not impose my amateur criticism on you but I really would urge you to go if it is convenient and you are interested in American painting at the turn of the twentieth century. Bellows was a contemporary of Hopper and that shows at times but he is also highly individual in his portayal of the city, its urgent development as an economic and cultural centre, the lives of poor folks and of longshoremen, the river, the weather (lots of snow made interesting). He later developed an interest in the play of single light sources in dark places (parks) and later still he worked on seascapes and landscapes and finally on portraits. There's a picture of his elderly parents which is almost too poignant to bear as they sit side-by-side and yet apparently hermetically sealed in their own worlds.
This exhibition runs until 09 June 2013.
There is a video about Bellows on the website
I shall not impose my amateur criticism on you but I really would urge you to go if it is convenient and you are interested in American painting at the turn of the twentieth century. Bellows was a contemporary of Hopper and that shows at times but he is also highly individual in his portayal of the city, its urgent development as an economic and cultural centre, the lives of poor folks and of longshoremen, the river, the weather (lots of snow made interesting). He later developed an interest in the play of single light sources in dark places (parks) and later still he worked on seascapes and landscapes and finally on portraits. There's a picture of his elderly parents which is almost too poignant to bear as they sit side-by-side and yet apparently hermetically sealed in their own worlds.
This exhibition runs until 09 June 2013.
There is a video about Bellows on the website
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