GEORGE BELLOWS
Artists Judging Works of Art.
Lithograph, 1916. 370x485 mm; 14½x19 inches, full margins. Second state (of 2). Edition of approximately 52. Signed, titled and inscribed "No. 35" in pencil, lower margin. A very good impression of this early lithograph. Bellows (1882-1925) was part of the second generation of Aschan School artists. Born in Columbus, Ohio he worked as a commercial illustrator as a student at The Ohio State University from 1901-04. After Ohio State, he moved to New York where he studied with Robert Henri and soon became associated with the Aschan artists. He depicted scenes of everyday life in New York that were rooted in realism. He started making lithographs in 1916 and revived interest in the medium as at the time etching was the preferred printmaking method. Lithography gave him a steady stream of income to provide for his family and also grew his popularity as an artist.This represents a scene at the National Arts Club, New York an important gathering and socializing place for artists; Bellows pictured himself in the lithograph at the extreme upper right.According to Levin, "In New York Hopper had his first two opportunities to show his work in art exhibitions during this period. During March 9-31, 1908, he exhibited with several other [Robert] Henri students--including Arnold Friedman, Glenn O. Coleman, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, and Guy Pène du Bois--in a rented space at the old Harmonie Club building at 43-45 West Forty-second Street. He showed The Louvre, one of his Paris oil paintings, in the Exhibition of Independent Artists organized by Sloan, Henri, and Arthur B. Davies held April 1-27, 1910, on West Thirty-fifth Street," (Levin, Edward Hopper as Illustrator, New York, 1979, page 11). Mason 18.