George Bellows' Boxing Paintings: Violence and Beauty in the Ring

Key facts

• George Bellows was a standout athlete at Ohio State University, playing basketball and baseball, and attracted attention from the Cincinnati Reds.
• Bellows moved to New York City in 1904 to study under Robert Henri.
• Bellows was part of the Ashcan School, led by Henri, including George Luks, William Glackens, and John Sloan.
• Bellows' studio was across the street from Sharkey's, a boxing bar, which inspired his early boxing paintings.
• Club Night (1907) and Stag at Sharkey's (1909) are among his early boxing works, with Stag at Sharkey's painted more loosely.
• Both Members of This Club (1909) depicts a Black fighter, reflecting racial tensions in boxing during that era.
• Jack Johnson became the first Black Heavyweight Champion in 1908, and his 1910 victory over James J. Jeffries sparked race riots.
• In 1913, bouts between Black and white fighters were outlawed in New York state.
• By the 1920s, boxing moved to mainstream venues, and Bellows continued to document the sport through drawings and lithographs.
• Introducing John L. Sullivan (1923) is based on a lithograph Bellows made while covering the Dempsey-Carpentier fight for New York World.
• Ringside Seats (1924) is based on a drawing for the short story 'Chins of the Fathers' published in Collier's in 1924.
• Bellows filed a lawsuit over Collier's cropping of his drawing, which was left unresolved after his death.
• Dempsey and Firpo (1924) depicts the dramatic moment when Firpo knocked Dempsey out of the ring during a 1923 fight at the Polo Grounds.
• Bellows died in 1925 at age 43 from a ruptured appendix.
• Pallbearers at Bellows' funeral included Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, and A. Stirling Calder.
• Bellows' boxing paintings are considered among his most thrilling and recognizable works.