

New York
1911
Completed in February 1911, New York is a large, ambitious painting in which George Bellows captures the essence of modern life in New York City. Although the viewer looks uptown toward Madison Square from the intersection of Broadway and 23rd Street, Bellows did not intend to represent a specific, identifiable place in the city. He instead drew on several bustling commercial districts to create an imaginary composite, an impossibly crowded image that would best convey a sense of the city’s frenetic pace.
By assembling all of these diverse elements into one scene, Bellows revolutionized the conventions of the traditional American urban vista and surpassed the efforts of other contemporary urban realists, like Robert Henri (American, 1865 - 1929) and John Sloan (American, 1871 - 1951). A critic commented that New York is full of “motion, of stirring existence. Trucks are darting through the crowd. Men and women are hurrying across the streets, trolleys are clanging their way in and out, a policeman is keeping people from being run over, you feel the rush, you hear the noise, and you wish you were safely home.”
By assembling all of these diverse elements into one scene, Bellows revolutionized the conventions of the traditional American urban vista and surpassed the efforts of other contemporary urban realists, like Robert Henri (American, 1865 - 1929) and John Sloan (American, 1871 - 1951). A critic commented that New York is full of “motion, of stirring existence. Trucks are darting through the crowd. Men and women are hurrying across the streets, trolleys are clanging their way in and out, a policeman is keeping people from being run over, you feel the rush, you hear the noise, and you wish you were safely home.”
- Size:
- 106.7 x 152.4 cm (42 x 60 in.)
- Medium:
- Oil on canvas
- License:
- Courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington
- For more:
- http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-pag…
More from this artist...
-
8621
-
The Lone Tenement 19098641
-
Chester Dale 19228171
You may also like...
-
470515
-
26608
-
17907
-
17242
-
612219
-
L'alba 2012242510
-
21324
-
12585
-
12813
-
La cola del cine 200140607
-
Skyline 2009224611
-
26612
-
Tokyo 201217901
-
NYC 200917800
-
30467
-
17617
-
14685