George Bellows

Identification of Painting

The George Bellows painting that will be reviewed and critiqued in this paper is "Stag at Sharkey's 1909." The painting is oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 48 1/4 (91 x 112.6 centimeters). The painting was done in 1909.

Description of Painting

What Bellows has done with this painting is create an exaggeration of two boxers going at it. The boxers are locked in a bloody battle. It is a brutal image. There appears to be blood on the arms and shoulders of the boxer on the left, and it seems as though the neck and part of the back of the boxer on the right shows blood as well. The faces in the audience are twisted, grotesque, and only a very few are even discernible. Just above the boxing mat, under the right shoe of the boxer on the right is a pair of...
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