05 Blue Morning – Bellows

Image of the painting "Blue Morning" by George Bellows depicting the construction of the original Penn Station in New York City.
George Bellows (American, 1882 – 1925), Blue Morning, 1909, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection 1963.10.82

Today, I’ll be looking at “Blue Morning” by George Bellows. Bellows lived and worked in New York at the turn of the 20th century and studied under artist Robert Henri (pronounced Hen-rye). His classmates included John Sloan and Edward Hopper. “Blue Morning” may have been inspired by Henri’s call for his students to paint the world around them instead of more genteel academic scenes.

We’ll find out how Bellows is connected to Mary Cassatt and how New Jersey inspired one of the greatest technological achievements of the 20th century.

And we’ll see how an artist who’s so highly regarded for realism bent the rules a little here!


SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas
youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is “Frog Legs Rag,” courtesy of WFMU’s Free Music Archive
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/James_Scott/Frog_Legs_Ragtime_Era_Favorites/01_-_james_scott_-_frog_legs_rag

Blue Morning
Robert Torchia, “George Bellows/Blue Morning/1909,” American Paintings, 1900–1945, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/46557 (accessed January 11, 2018).

“The Rise & Fall of Penn Station”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/

Slow Art Day
http://www.slowartday.com