"Made in Germany," George
Bellows, 1918. Lithograph.
The Work of George Bellows at Harvard
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - The Harvard University Art Museums presents
"George Bellows: ," on view through May 11 at the Fogg Art
Museum. The exhibition features 32 objects, including drawings,
etchings, lithographs and one painting.
In the early Twentieth Century, George Bellows (1882-1925)
emerged as one of the best-known American artists of the period.
In 1918 he responded to reports of German atrocities in Belgium
by creating, in just six weeks, a series of 14 lithographs titled
"War (The Tragedies of the War in Belgium)" that chronicled the
horrific acts of the invaders.
The same year, Bellows painted five large-scale oils based on
images in the lithographs. One of the paintings, "The Germans
Arrive," is the focal point of the exhibition. Bellows followed
Goya's lead in his "Third of May" and Manet's in his "Execution
of Maximilian" in employing the usually heroic genre of history
painting to protest horrifying demonstrations of inhumanity. The
artist's prints and paintings received high acclaim upon their
debut but have seldom exhibited over the last half-century. In
fact, this exhibition is only the third time that "The Germans
Arrive" has been on public view.
Bellows' merciless renderings of the atrocities in Belgium were
unprecedented in American art. Instead, he joined a long European
tradition of directly confronting the horrors of war, a tradition
going back to Callot's "Miseries of War" and Goya's "Disasters of
War" and extending forward to Otto Dix, who fought for Germany in
World War I, and to Picasso. The exhibition will include several
of their works, as well as prints embodying related themes by
Daumier, Manet and others, drawn from the print collection of the
Fogg's Mongan Center.
"The exhibition celebrates our acquisition, made possible by a
gift from Diane and Michael Maher, of the last set of 'War'
lithographs remaining in the Bellows estate. It also honors the
recent deposit of Bellows' painting 'The Germans Arrive' at the
Fogg Museum by an anonymous lender," said Marjorie B. Cohn,
acting director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "The Art
Museums offers this complex exhibition to engage our various
audiences, young and old, and to extend an opportunity for all to
deal with this difficult subject matter in the quiet of our
galleries."
"Bellows meant for these works to address universal themes of
inhumanity and suffering and some of the images were also used as
pro-war propaganda for World War I," said Kimberly Orcutt,
assistant curator of American art. "The acquisition of the
lithographs comes at a time when war is once again a crucial
issue. Seeing these works in the current climate will highlight
the ways that art can speak in different voices to different
generations and how we as viewers create new layers of meaning
for works of art as we integrate the artist's intentions with our
own experience and beliefs."
Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1882, Bellows became a leading
American artist of the early Twentieth Century. In 1904 he moved
to New York City and studied painting at the New York School of
Art under Robert Henri. Henri, the leader of the controversial
Ashcan school of urban realism, inspired the artist to
concentrate on scenes of city life. Bellows worked as an
illustrator for newspapers and magazines, but he quickly became
established as a painter and was particularly noted for his
boxing scenes. He was also recognized as a pioneer of lithography
in the United States. His later work is predominantly in
portraiture. He taught at the Art Students League in New York and
at the Art Institute of Chicago. Bellows enjoyed critical and
financial success until his death of appendicitis at the height
of his career, at the age of 42.
A gallery talk, "George Bellows: ," will take place on Saturday,
March 15, 11:30 am, and Saturday, April 12, 11:30 am presented by
Kimberly Orcutt, assistant curator of American art.
The Fogg Art Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum are at 32
Quincy Street. For information, 617-495-9400 or
artmuseums.Harvard.edu.
