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Provenance: The artist.
Estate of the above.
Emma S. Bellows, wife of the artist, 1925.
Estate of the above, 1959.
H.V. Allison & Co., New York.
Dr. and Mrs. Samuel W. Robinson, Columbus, Ohio, 1963.
Estate of the above.
D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York, 2003.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2004.
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Exhibited: New York, H.V. Allison & Co., George Bellows, May 7-31, 1963.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2004, on loan.
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Literature: Artist's Record Book B, p. 244.
H.V. Allison & Co., George Bellows, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1963, n.p., no. 14.
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Notes: Property of a Midwestern Collection
Unlike many of his contemporaries, George Bellows never traveled abroad. Rather, he found ample subject matter and inspiration at home on American soil. Bellows' powerfully painted portrayals of street urchins and fighters, snowy views along the Hudson River, and excavation sites captured the excitement and energy of life in New York City. Beginning in 1920, however, Bellows painted spiritual landscapes of primary colors in and around Woodstock, New York. Painted in 1920, River at Saugerties exemplifies Bellows' oeuvre from his time in Woodstock.
Bellows' decision to live in Woodstock evolved from a desire to find more meaningful, spiritual subject matter. According to Virginia Mecklenburg, "By the time [Bellows] came to Woodstock in 1920, he was no longer a brash young painter of urban scenes, but a contemplative man seeking something more profound, more universal than the crowded streets and shifting light of a fast-moving city." ("Leaving for the Country: George Bellows at Woodstock," Antiques and the Arts, October 21, 2003)
Bellows first came to Woodstock to visit his friend and fellow artist Eugene Speicher and he immediately fell in love with the rural atmosphere of the area, recognizing its potential for landscape painting as well as for its growing art community. During the summers of 1920 and 1921, Bellows rented the home of Dr. James Shotwell, with grand panoramic views of the mountains surrounding Saugerties and Woodstock. Undoubtedly these majestic vistas serve as inspiration for the artist's body of work and led to the completion of some of his most superb paintings.
The verdant fields, looming mountains, lakes and streams and farms around Woodstock reignited Bellows' interest in landscape painting. The Woodstock landscapes, including River Saugerties, retain the artist's distinctive handling of paint augmented by his use of strong primary hues. Without question the seminal 1913 Armory Show in New York that introduced Expressionism and Fauvism to the New York artist's society had its impact on Bellows, as well. In River Saugerties Bellows applies thick and generous strokes of paint with a palette knife, creating a three dimensional surface that dramatizes the scene. The houses in the distance and the figures in the foreground are depicted using quick, confident strokes of primary blues, yellows and whites. The rolling hills in the background are pure yellows and purples, and the sky and water create an organic pattern of blues and whites.
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. Indeed, the genuine immediacy of emotion evident in River Saugerties vividly captures a sense of an ethereal summer day in the country.
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the paintings of George Bellows being prepared by Glenn C. Peck. An online version of the catalogue is available at www.hvallison.com.
