Lot Essay
Painted in 1916, Criehaven Wharfis a superb representation of George Bellows' awe-inspiring depictions of the topography and culture along the shoreline of coastal Maine. A vignette of a small fishing wharf at low tide, the work depicts the remote island of Criehaven, situated in the far reaches of Penobscot Bay. With differentiated strokes of vivid colors, Criehaven Wharfis a triumphant manifestation of Bellows' celebration of the symbiotic relationship of man and nature in the arrestingly quiet, isolated communities of seaside Maine.
Bellows first traveled to Maine in the summer of 1911 at the invitation of his close friend and fellow artist, Robert Henri, who had ventured to the remote island of Monhegan in search of solitude and a respite from the chaos of New York City. Bellows was inspired by the dramatic rugged landscape and infinite sea, commenting in a letter to his wife, "There is no new thing proposed, relating to my art as a painter of easel pictures, that I will not consider" and, towards the end of that initial sojourn, regretted his departure in another letter remarking "My head is full of millions of great pictures which I will never have time to paint." (as quoted in S. Cash, "Life At Sea, 1911-1917," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2012, pp. 159, 161)
A leader of the Ashcan group, by 1911 Bellows was well known for his portrayals of gritty urban New York, found on the river wharfs and between the ropes of nocturnal boxing matches. In his depictions of Maine, he explored a similar approach; yet, rather than focus on the daily life of the working man, he engaged the natural surroundings to deliver an alternate message. "In Bellows's New York paintings of the early twentieth century he tackles the world of the modern city head on...in Monhegan, that world is still present but largely through its replacement with a fuller account of values that Bellows represented in his New York scenes mingled with the negative. Now he has stepped away from a direct representation of modern life. He develops instead out of his earlier attempt to rescue that wretched world from the effects of its own abjection, a view of the rural world as resolute, direct and tightly meshed with the natural order." (D.P. Corbett, An American Experiment: George Bellows and the Ashcan Painters, exhibition catalogue, London, 2011, p. 46) Indeed, in Criehaven WharfBellows adeptly conveys harmony as he balances the natural elements with the manmade. He handles the fabricated structures of the boats and pier as well as the seaweed covered rocks of the foreground and trees beyond with equal emotion to convey a highly personalized vision of the unity of man within nature.
Bellows returned to Maine in the summer of 1913 and brought with him his wife, Emma, and newborn daughter, Anne. He spent four months on the islands of Monhegan and Matinicus producing several panels of the rugged seaside promontories he encountered there. Whereas on his first trip Bellows primarily painted sketches on small panels measuring eleven by fifteen inches, on this second trip he broadened his output. He wrote in a letter to gallerist William Macbeth, "I am painting on panels 15 x 20 and getting some very complete pictures which are a decided departure on my part in color. I am delighted with some of them...These panels are twice as big as the old ones and a long way removed from quick sketches." (as quoted in F. Kelly, "Bellows and the Sea," The Paintings of George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 152)
Bellows' second trip to Maine was during the same year as the groundbreaking Armory Show in New York, and as a co-organizer of the event, he was heavily influenced by the high-keyed palettes and innovative styles of the European Expressionists and Fauvists who exhibited there. In addition to having been exposed to the European modern formalist concerns at the Armory Show, Bellows was also in the company of two early American modernists, Leon Kroll and Andrew Dasburg. "Kroll and Dasburg likely encouraged not only the brightening of Bellows' palette, but also his nascent understanding of how to model form through color relationships in the manner of Paul Cézanne; while in Paris, both were greatly influenced by the French master's work and enthusiastically endorsed it to their fellow American artists. Bellows, for his part, admired Cézanne and would have encountered his distinctive style in works...exhibited at the Armory Show....as well as in publications and other recent exhibitions. In a letter to his Ohio State Univeristy professor Joseph Taylor, Bellows all but conjures the artist in describing his new use of strong color to render objects: 'I have been trying to discern dignity in [the] powerful colors I have been painting...great, dignified masses can just as well or better often be made with powerful colors as with grays." ("Life At Sea, 1911-1917," George Bellows, p. 162)
In 1916, Bellows along with Emma, Anne and his newborn daughter, Jean, spent their last summer in Maine, on the small island of Criehaven, situated precariously in the Atlantic beyond the mouth of Penobscot Bay. "Bellows wrote to Henri that he was doing 'extra fine work' and continuing his experiments with color." ("Bellows and the Sea," The Paintings of George Bellows, p. 162) Indeed, in Criehaven Wharf, with a loaded brush Bellows incorporates these nuanced principles of color to dramatically render the natural landscape. He casts away all local color and instead uses a high-keyed palette of intense cyan, bright yellow with outlines of royal blue and built-up whites, adding a feeling of exhilaration to a landscape that is naturally composed of dark blues, grays and forest green. Bellows applies thick and generous strokes of pigments, alternating his brushwork between bold dashes and more carefully applied shorter, slanted touches. The result is a powerful glorification of the tiny cove which radiates from the panel transcribing the artist's genuine emotional fervor for this beloved region.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonnéof the paintings of George Bellows being prepared by Glenn C. Peck. An online version of the catalogue is available at www.hvallison.com.
Bellows first traveled to Maine in the summer of 1911 at the invitation of his close friend and fellow artist, Robert Henri, who had ventured to the remote island of Monhegan in search of solitude and a respite from the chaos of New York City. Bellows was inspired by the dramatic rugged landscape and infinite sea, commenting in a letter to his wife, "There is no new thing proposed, relating to my art as a painter of easel pictures, that I will not consider" and, towards the end of that initial sojourn, regretted his departure in another letter remarking "My head is full of millions of great pictures which I will never have time to paint." (as quoted in S. Cash, "Life At Sea, 1911-1917," George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2012, pp. 159, 161)
A leader of the Ashcan group, by 1911 Bellows was well known for his portrayals of gritty urban New York, found on the river wharfs and between the ropes of nocturnal boxing matches. In his depictions of Maine, he explored a similar approach; yet, rather than focus on the daily life of the working man, he engaged the natural surroundings to deliver an alternate message. "In Bellows's New York paintings of the early twentieth century he tackles the world of the modern city head on...in Monhegan, that world is still present but largely through its replacement with a fuller account of values that Bellows represented in his New York scenes mingled with the negative. Now he has stepped away from a direct representation of modern life. He develops instead out of his earlier attempt to rescue that wretched world from the effects of its own abjection, a view of the rural world as resolute, direct and tightly meshed with the natural order." (D.P. Corbett, An American Experiment: George Bellows and the Ashcan Painters, exhibition catalogue, London, 2011, p. 46) Indeed, in Criehaven WharfBellows adeptly conveys harmony as he balances the natural elements with the manmade. He handles the fabricated structures of the boats and pier as well as the seaweed covered rocks of the foreground and trees beyond with equal emotion to convey a highly personalized vision of the unity of man within nature.
Bellows returned to Maine in the summer of 1913 and brought with him his wife, Emma, and newborn daughter, Anne. He spent four months on the islands of Monhegan and Matinicus producing several panels of the rugged seaside promontories he encountered there. Whereas on his first trip Bellows primarily painted sketches on small panels measuring eleven by fifteen inches, on this second trip he broadened his output. He wrote in a letter to gallerist William Macbeth, "I am painting on panels 15 x 20 and getting some very complete pictures which are a decided departure on my part in color. I am delighted with some of them...These panels are twice as big as the old ones and a long way removed from quick sketches." (as quoted in F. Kelly, "Bellows and the Sea," The Paintings of George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, p. 152)
Bellows' second trip to Maine was during the same year as the groundbreaking Armory Show in New York, and as a co-organizer of the event, he was heavily influenced by the high-keyed palettes and innovative styles of the European Expressionists and Fauvists who exhibited there. In addition to having been exposed to the European modern formalist concerns at the Armory Show, Bellows was also in the company of two early American modernists, Leon Kroll and Andrew Dasburg. "Kroll and Dasburg likely encouraged not only the brightening of Bellows' palette, but also his nascent understanding of how to model form through color relationships in the manner of Paul Cézanne; while in Paris, both were greatly influenced by the French master's work and enthusiastically endorsed it to their fellow American artists. Bellows, for his part, admired Cézanne and would have encountered his distinctive style in works...exhibited at the Armory Show....as well as in publications and other recent exhibitions. In a letter to his Ohio State Univeristy professor Joseph Taylor, Bellows all but conjures the artist in describing his new use of strong color to render objects: 'I have been trying to discern dignity in [the] powerful colors I have been painting...great, dignified masses can just as well or better often be made with powerful colors as with grays." ("Life At Sea, 1911-1917," George Bellows, p. 162)
In 1916, Bellows along with Emma, Anne and his newborn daughter, Jean, spent their last summer in Maine, on the small island of Criehaven, situated precariously in the Atlantic beyond the mouth of Penobscot Bay. "Bellows wrote to Henri that he was doing 'extra fine work' and continuing his experiments with color." ("Bellows and the Sea," The Paintings of George Bellows, p. 162) Indeed, in Criehaven Wharf, with a loaded brush Bellows incorporates these nuanced principles of color to dramatically render the natural landscape. He casts away all local color and instead uses a high-keyed palette of intense cyan, bright yellow with outlines of royal blue and built-up whites, adding a feeling of exhilaration to a landscape that is naturally composed of dark blues, grays and forest green. Bellows applies thick and generous strokes of pigments, alternating his brushwork between bold dashes and more carefully applied shorter, slanted touches. The result is a powerful glorification of the tiny cove which radiates from the panel transcribing the artist's genuine emotional fervor for this beloved region.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonnéof the paintings of George Bellows being prepared by Glenn C. Peck. An online version of the catalogue is available at www.hvallison.com.