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Lot Essay
In the spring of 1907 Rockwell Kent, a fellow student of George Bellows at Studio 616 in New York, returned from a winter sojourn on Monhegan Island, Maine. Although Bellows would not travel to Monhegan for several years, the images Kent brought back with him sparked an immediate inspiration in Bellows to visit the inimitable landscape.
"The primitive isolation of Monhegan Island, that solitary sentinel off the coast of Maine, beckoned to him again in harsh contrast to the sophistication of Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam." (C.H. Morgan, George Bellows: Painter of America, New York, 1965, p. 133) At the urging of his mentor, Robert Henri, Bellows left Upper Montclair, New Jersey in July 1911 and traveled with Henri and fellow student Randall Davey to Monhegan, set ten miles off the mid-coast of Maine.
Bellows' first summer on Monhegan was extremely productive with the artist producing approximately thirty small panels and twelve canvases. Expansive views of the coast and sea dominated the artist's scenes. In a letter to his wife Emma, Bellows writes that "the Island is only a mile wide and two miles long, but it looks as large as the Rocky Mountains. It's three times as high as Montauk and all black and grey rock. Beautiful pine forests and wonderful varieties of all kinds..." (George Bellows: Painter of America, pp. 135-6) The remoteness and distinct landscape of this formidable island rising out of the sea inspired stirring subjects for Bellows to explore. Works such as The Grove-Monhegan (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) and An Island in the Sea (Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio) place the viewer at the edge of the land, standing out over a great expanse. A sense of physical isolation and insignificance compared to nature's presence is immediately instilled in the viewer and further reveals the artist's own moods and contemplations. In another letter from that summer, Bellows mentions that he was "feeling a wild spirit of adventure, but without care of myself...When I remembered my wife and child I got none too close to the edge of the precipitous precipice." (F. Kelly, "'So Clean and Cold': Bellows and the Sea," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 155)
In 1913 Bellows would return to Monhegan and a significant contrast developed in his work. "Bellows found a new vision of the island--in the rocks at the water's edge. While views of Monhegan in 1911, for the most part, had been from a fairly distant vantage point that softened forms...the studies of 1913 assumed a close-in viewpoint, often on the rocks and looking directly at the swirling water...in 1913 it was the action of the sea...These paintings often have been likened to the late seascapes of Winslow Homer, but their very energy and immediacy sets them far apart from the balance and stately majesty of Homer's masterpieces." (M. Quick, "Technique and Theory: The Evolution of George Bellows's Painting Style," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 43) Dr. Franklin Kelly adds, "Bellows's 1913 Monhegan paintings are markedly different from those of just two years earlier. The evocative mood of mystery and uncertainty found in Shore House and An Island in the Sea is gone, replaced by an exuberant celebration of the ocean's boundless, primal energy. Generally painted with great, bold strokes, the works of 1913 obtain a new dramatic force and power." ("'So Clean and Cold': Bellows and the Sea," George Bellows, p. 155)
In the present painting, Rock Bound, Bellows renders a dramatic scene of crashing waves sweeping through a rocky inlet. He has aggressively applied rich purples, blues and black to create the imposing shoreline of the Maine coast standing steadfast in the foreground, emphasizing the power of the ocean. Juxtaposed against these angular masses are wisps of white paint that spray against the rocks and cool sea-foam green currents. The use of contrasting smooth brushstrokes of grays and white in the background to seemingly shroud the scene in a damp fog, reveals the artist's concern with capturing an overall atmospheric effect. The intimacy of Rock Bound, underscored by the direct application of paint that creates a thick impasto on the surface and the overall visually engaging quality of the scene are hallmarks of some of the artist's strongest works during this period.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work being compiled by Glenn C. Peck in cooperation with the artist's daughter.
"The primitive isolation of Monhegan Island, that solitary sentinel off the coast of Maine, beckoned to him again in harsh contrast to the sophistication of Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam." (C.H. Morgan, George Bellows: Painter of America, New York, 1965, p. 133) At the urging of his mentor, Robert Henri, Bellows left Upper Montclair, New Jersey in July 1911 and traveled with Henri and fellow student Randall Davey to Monhegan, set ten miles off the mid-coast of Maine.
Bellows' first summer on Monhegan was extremely productive with the artist producing approximately thirty small panels and twelve canvases. Expansive views of the coast and sea dominated the artist's scenes. In a letter to his wife Emma, Bellows writes that "the Island is only a mile wide and two miles long, but it looks as large as the Rocky Mountains. It's three times as high as Montauk and all black and grey rock. Beautiful pine forests and wonderful varieties of all kinds..." (George Bellows: Painter of America, pp. 135-6) The remoteness and distinct landscape of this formidable island rising out of the sea inspired stirring subjects for Bellows to explore. Works such as The Grove-Monhegan (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) and An Island in the Sea (Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio) place the viewer at the edge of the land, standing out over a great expanse. A sense of physical isolation and insignificance compared to nature's presence is immediately instilled in the viewer and further reveals the artist's own moods and contemplations. In another letter from that summer, Bellows mentions that he was "feeling a wild spirit of adventure, but without care of myself...When I remembered my wife and child I got none too close to the edge of the precipitous precipice." (F. Kelly, "'So Clean and Cold': Bellows and the Sea," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 155)
In 1913 Bellows would return to Monhegan and a significant contrast developed in his work. "Bellows found a new vision of the island--in the rocks at the water's edge. While views of Monhegan in 1911, for the most part, had been from a fairly distant vantage point that softened forms...the studies of 1913 assumed a close-in viewpoint, often on the rocks and looking directly at the swirling water...in 1913 it was the action of the sea...These paintings often have been likened to the late seascapes of Winslow Homer, but their very energy and immediacy sets them far apart from the balance and stately majesty of Homer's masterpieces." (M. Quick, "Technique and Theory: The Evolution of George Bellows's Painting Style," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 43) Dr. Franklin Kelly adds, "Bellows's 1913 Monhegan paintings are markedly different from those of just two years earlier. The evocative mood of mystery and uncertainty found in Shore House and An Island in the Sea is gone, replaced by an exuberant celebration of the ocean's boundless, primal energy. Generally painted with great, bold strokes, the works of 1913 obtain a new dramatic force and power." ("'So Clean and Cold': Bellows and the Sea," George Bellows, p. 155)
In the present painting, Rock Bound, Bellows renders a dramatic scene of crashing waves sweeping through a rocky inlet. He has aggressively applied rich purples, blues and black to create the imposing shoreline of the Maine coast standing steadfast in the foreground, emphasizing the power of the ocean. Juxtaposed against these angular masses are wisps of white paint that spray against the rocks and cool sea-foam green currents. The use of contrasting smooth brushstrokes of grays and white in the background to seemingly shroud the scene in a damp fog, reveals the artist's concern with capturing an overall atmospheric effect. The intimacy of Rock Bound, underscored by the direct application of paint that creates a thick impasto on the surface and the overall visually engaging quality of the scene are hallmarks of some of the artist's strongest works during this period.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work being compiled by Glenn C. Peck in cooperation with the artist's daughter.