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George Wesley BellowsAmerican Ashcan School, Portrait of the artist's wife, 1921, George Bellows1921
1921
About the Item
George Bellows (1882-1925)
Arrangement, Emma in a Room
Lithograph, 1921
Signed in pencil by the artist and by his printer, Bolton Brown (see photos)
Titled in pencil by the artist (see photo)
Edition: 43
A portrait of the artist's wife at the Bellows home at 146 E. 19th St., NYC
Condition: Excellent
Image size: 9 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches
Sheet size: 12 5/8 x 10 3/4 inches
Reference: Mason 112
Exhibited: Tom Veilleux Gallery, "George Bellows Lithographs Including Works from the Bellows family Trust", April 9-May 2, 2008
George Bellows (1882–1925)
Arrangement, Emma in a Room, 1921
Lithograph, 1921
Catalogue Raisonné: Lauris Mason, The Lithographs of George Bellows, no. 112
Among the finest examples of George Bellows's mature domestic lithographs, Arrangement, Emma in a Room (1921) represents a remarkable synthesis of portraiture, interior design, and psychological observation. Created during the final and most technically accomplished phase of Bellows's printmaking career, the lithograph reveals an artist whose interests had expanded far beyond the urban realism that first established his reputation. Rather than depicting the crowded streets, prizefights, or construction scenes associated with the Ashcan School, Bellows turned his attention inward, transforming his own household into a setting for sophisticated formal experimentation and intimate emotional expression.
George Bellows: Life and Career
George Bellows ranks among the most influential American artists of the early twentieth century. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he studied at the New York School of Art under the celebrated realist Robert Henri, whose insistence that artists paint modern American life profoundly shaped Bellows's artistic philosophy. Rejecting academic idealization, Bellows sought vitality, movement, and direct observation, becoming one of the foremost figures associated with the Ashcan School.
His paintings of New York's working-class neighborhoods, amateur boxing matches, excavation sites, and city parks quickly earned critical acclaim. Yet Bellows was never confined by urban realism alone. His career encompassed portraiture, landscapes, marine paintings, illustrations, and an extraordinary body of lithographs.
Bellows embraced lithography in 1916 under the guidance of the master printer Bolton Brown. Brown introduced him to the artistic possibilities of drawing directly on limestone, a medium ideally suited to Bellows's energetic handling of crayon and tonal modeling. During less than a decade Bellows produced nearly two hundred lithographs, a body of work now recognized as one of the greatest achievements in twentieth-century American printmaking. His lithographs document every aspect of his artistic interests—from war imagery and sporting events to portraits, landscapes, and intimate family scenes.
The Domestic Interior
By 1921 Bellows had become increasingly fascinated with his family as artistic subjects. His wife, Emma Story Bellows, their daughters Anne and Jean, and their close circle of friends appear repeatedly throughout the lithographs of 1921–1923. These works reveal an artist exploring the expressive possibilities of domestic life with the same seriousness previously devoted to urban spectacle.
Arrangement, Emma in a Room depicts Emma seated quietly within an elegantly furnished interior. Unlike the animated narrative compositions of Bellows's earlier career, this image possesses remarkable stillness. Every object—the chair, mirror, dresser, draped table, and surrounding furnishings—is carefully positioned to create a harmonious spatial composition rather than merely describing a room. The title itself, "Arrangement," emphasizes Bellows's concern with formal organization as much as portraiture.
The composition recalls nineteenth-century interior painting while remaining unmistakably modern in its handling of light, mass, and abbreviated drawing.
Artistic Analysis
Emma occupies the visual center of the composition, seated confidently within a carefully balanced interior. Bellows avoids theatrical gesture; instead, the psychological character emerges through posture, expression, and the quiet relationship between figure and surroundings.
The lithographic crayon allows Bellows to produce a remarkable range of tonal values. Heavy blacks anchor the furniture while softer passages model Emma's face and clothing. Loose, energetic strokes remain visible throughout, preserving the spontaneity of drawing while simultaneously constructing convincing three-dimensional form.
The surrounding furnishings perform more than decorative functions. The mirror, cabinet, table, and drapery establish a rhythm of verticals and horizontals that frame the seated figure and guide the viewer's eye throughout the composition. Bellows demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of pictorial architecture, balancing dark masses against illuminated passages with exceptional precision.
Although Emma appears entirely at ease, Bellows avoids sentimentality. Her expression is thoughtful rather than idealized. The room becomes an extension of her personality—a cultivated domestic environment reflecting stability, intelligence, and quiet dignity.
The image also reveals Bellows's growing engagement with European traditions of portraiture. One detects echoes of Whistler's arrangements, Degas's domestic interiors, and even Dutch seventeenth-century portraiture, yet Bellows transforms these precedents into an unmistakably American interpretation characterized by directness and structural vigor.
Emma Story Bellows
Emma Story Bellows was considerably more than the artist's favorite model. She had studied art herself before marrying Bellows in 1910 and possessed an acute understanding of artistic practice. Throughout their marriage she became Bellows's closest collaborator, organizing exhibitions, preserving his work, and later publishing the first catalogue raisonné of his lithographs after his death.
Her repeated appearance throughout the lithographs of the early 1920s reflects not only personal affection but artistic partnership. Bellows portrays her with intelligence and individuality rather than conventional feminine idealization. The portraits collectively document one of the most compelling artistic collaborations in American art.
Position Within Bellows's Lithographic Oeuvre
Arrangement, Emma in a Room belongs to an extraordinary sequence of family lithographs executed during 1921, including Marjorie, Emma and Elsie, Emma, Elsie and Gene, Emma and Marjorie on a Sofa, and numerous portraits of Emma and the Bellows children. Together these works represent the culmination of Bellows's exploration of intimate domestic imagery.
Technically, the lithograph demonstrates complete mastery of the medium. Bellows had moved beyond the vigorous experimentation of his early lithographs toward compositions of exceptional balance and refinement. The drawing remains energetic while the tonal relationships achieve remarkable sophistication.
Lauris Mason identified the print as Catalogue Raisonné No. 112, placing it within the artist's mature period of lithographic production.
Museum Holdings
Examples of Arrangement, Emma in a Room are preserved in several distinguished public collections, reflecting the print's recognized importance within Bellows's graphic oeuvre. Notable holdings include:
• Cleveland Museum of Art (Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.; accession 1935.269)
• Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Amon Carter Museum of American Art (George Bellows Estate Set of Graphic Art)
• Delaware Art Museum
Bellows's lithographs more broadly are represented in virtually every major American print collection, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Public Library, and numerous university and regional museums.
Scholarship
Bellows's lithographs have received sustained scholarly attention since the artist's death. Emma Bellows's pioneering George W. Bellows: His Lithographs (1927) established the first catalogue raisonné, later superseded by Lauris Mason's definitive The Lithographs of George Bellows (1977), which remains the standard reference. Bellows's graphic work has also been examined extensively by Charles H. Morgan, Michael Quick, Marianne Doezema, Jane Myers, and Charlene Engel, each emphasizing the originality with which Bellows elevated American lithography from a reproductive medium into a vehicle for independent artistic expression.
Conclusion
Arrangement, Emma in a Room exemplifies the maturity of George Bellows's achievement as a lithographer. While celebrated for his dynamic depictions of New York's streets and sporting life, Bellows proved equally accomplished in portraying the quiet poetry of domestic existence. The print transforms an ordinary interior into a carefully orchestrated meditation on family, space, and psychological presence.
Its balanced composition, rich tonal structure, and sensitive characterization reveal an artist working at the height of his powers. The portrait transcends likeness to become an exploration of harmony between figure and environment, reflecting Bellows's sophisticated understanding of both modern realism and classical compositional design.
Today, Arrangement, Emma in a Room remains one of the finest domestic lithographs produced in America during the early twentieth century. It demonstrates that Bellows's greatest legacy lies not only in his energetic urban realism but also in his ability to discover profound artistic meaning within the quiet moments of everyday family life.
Childs Gallery, 2008: "George Bellows: Master Draftsman and Lithographer,"
Sept. 15-Nov. 8, 2008
- Creator:George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925, American)
- Creation Year:1921
- Dimensions:Height: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)Width: 7.25 in (18.42 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Fairlawn, OH
- Reference Number:Seller: FA56611stDibs: LU14018294412
George Wesley Bellows
George Bellows, an American artist, was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1882, the only child of a successful building contractor from Sag Harbor, New York. He entered Ohio State University in 1901, where he played baseball and basketball and made drawings for college publications. He dropped out of college in 1904, went to New York, and studied under Robert Henri (American, 1865 – 1929) at the New York School of Art, where Edward Hopper (American, 1882 – 1967), Rockwell Kent (American, 1882 – 1971), and Guy Pène du Bois (American, 1884 – 1958) were his classmates. A superb technician who worked in a confident, painterly style, Bellows soon established himself as the most important realist of his generation. He created memorable images of club fights, street urchins swimming in the East River, and the Pennsylvania Station excavation site and garnered praise from both progressive and conservative critics. In 1910 Bellows began teaching at the Art Students League and married Emma Story, by whom he had two daughters. After 1910 Bellows gradually abandoned the stark urban realism and dark palette characteristic of his early work and gravitated toward painting landscapes, seascapes, and portraits. Bellows helped organize the Armory Show in 1913, in which five of his paintings and a number of drawings were included. That year he was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design. He had leftist political views and contributed illustrations to the Socialist publication The Masses from 1912 to 1917. Bellows began to make lithographs in 1916 and his exceptional talent engendered a revival of interest in the medium. He worked in Maine, in Carmel, California, and in Middletown, Rhode Island, and was a founding member of the Society of Independent Artists and a charter member of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors. In 1919 he taught at the Art Institute of Chicago. Bellows, who never went to Europe, is regarded as a quintessential American artist whose vigorous style enabled him to explore a wide range of subjects from scenes of modern urban life to portraits of his daughters, to turbulent Maine seascapes. As an early biographer noted, Bellows “caught the brute force of the prizefighter, the ruggedness of the country pasture, the essence of childhood and recorded them appropriately not only for his own generation but for all time.”[1] [1] [Frederick A. Sweet], George Bellows: Paintings, Drawings and Prints (Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 1946). Robert Torchia September 29, 2016
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