Artists Magazine - USA (2020-01 & 2020-02)

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n theyearsaround1910,NewYork
CityfounditsidealartistinGeorge
WesleyBellows(American,1882–
1925).Bellowswas 22 yearsold,a pro
baseballprospectstudyingatOhio
StateUniversity,whenheabruptly
leftcollegeandmovedeastin1904.
HeenrolledattheNewYorkSchool
ofArt(nowtheParsonsSchoolof
Design)andstudiedunderRobert
Henri,whoencouragedhisstudents
topaintmodernlife.
Beforelong,Bellowswasthepre-
eminentpainteroftheAshcanSchool.
Histhemeswerethedramaticele-
mentsofcitylife:violentprizefights,
workingwaterfrontsand,notleast,
a cultureoffreneticactivity.Forsheer
muscularambition,thepainterand
hiscitywereperfectlymatched.
In1909,Bellowscompletedseveral
seriesofpaintingsthatdefinedthe
brawnandbustleofthecityafter
theturnofthecentury.Onegroup
depictedboxerspummelingeachother
inprivateclubs;anothershowedthe
gapingexcavationuponwhichtheold
PennStationwasconstructed.

Hethenturnedhisattentionto
anothermarvelofengineering:the
QueensboroBridge.Thebridgehad
openedtotrafficonlya fewmonths
earlier,aftera turbulenthistorythat
includeda laborunionplottosabo-
tageit withdynamite,aswellasthe
deathsofdozensofworkersduring
construction.Toreadthestoryof
thebridge’sdevelopmentistobe
surprisedthatit waseverfinished.
Whenit wascompleted,the
Queensborowasoneofthelargest
cantileverbridgesintheworld.Its
elegantirontraceryandtowering
spiresweretoopicturesqueforartists
toignore.EdwardHopper,Ernest
LawsonandLeonKrollwereamong
Bellows’contemporarieswhopainted
thespaninitsfullglory.Bellows
paintedtwomajorcanvasesthat
featuredthebridge,buthewasn’t
makinganarchitecturalportrait.
InTheLoneTenementweseemerely
fragmentsoftheroadwayanda sup-
portingpier.Bellowswasinterested
insteadinwhattranspiredbeneath
thebridgeand,byimplication,the
tensionbetweenprogressandthose
wholivewithinitsshadow.

Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer
to art magazines and teaches at the
Art Students League of New York.

The Chill of a


Winter Afternoon


In The Lone Tenement, GEORGE WESLEY BELLOWS captured
a moment in New York City’s changing landscape.

by Jerry N. Weiss

While other painters
were taken with the
newly completed
Queensboro Bridge’s
style, Bellows
focused on its
cultural implications.
The modern bridge
isrelegated to
the edges of the
canvas, framing
the monumental,
if outmoded, building
behind. Men and boys
gather in the street
nearby. Some appear
tobe playing while
others encircle a fire
onthe winter after-
noon. They presage
what would become
a 20th-century urban
phenomenon: the
displacement of
entire neighborhoods
tomake way for
automotive travel.


The Lone Tenement
by George Wesley Bellows
1909; oil on canvas,
36⅛X48⅛
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