George Bellows (1882-1925). Prints and Drawings

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George Bellows (1882-1925) was an American painter and printmaker. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1904 Bellows moved to New York, where he studied with Robert Henri. Although he continued to paint, in 1916 Bellows took up lithography and, working first with George C. Miller and later with Bolton Brown, he became one of the most respected American lithographers of the first half of the 20th century. Bellows died in New York in 1925.

Prior to donating his collection of prints and drawings to the Boston Public Library in 1941, Albert H. Wiggin assembled a complete collection of Bellows lithographs and four related drawings. In 1942, Wiggin was able to acquire two more drawings for the library’s collection and then, in 1943, through the offices of the H.V. Allison Gallery in New York, he was able to purchase 30 additional drawings from the Bellows estate. Emma Bellows, the artist’s widow, donated nine drawings and states of the one etching that Bellows created. Since 1943, the Boston Public Library has been able to add three more drawings to the Bellows collection through purchase and gift.

Critical funding to support long-term preservation of and enhanced public access to Boston Public Library collections, including this one, was provided by the Associates of the Boston Public Library.