George BellowsAmerican, 1882–1925Bacchanal
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Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
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- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The title Bacchanal sickeningly describes this image of German forces pillaging and looting with drunken abandon and glee, even as they beat and murder village women and children. The print relates a sense of moral outrage at the depth of German depravity and brutality. The directional lines of the composition and the illumination of the scene create a focal point at the slight, limp body of the child at center, who is impaled on a soldier’s bayonet. The child’s seeming weightlessness and pale, glowing flesh symbolize the otherworldly suffering of these innocents, while the purity of this martyr renders the sinister debauchery surrounding him all the more obscene.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1950.1649
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of George Bellows
The whole life1916
A lithography press in his studio
He installs a lithography press in his studio and makes a significant contribution to establishing lithography as a fine art in the United States.
1918
The quarrel with Pennell: who may paint a war
The artist Joseph Pennell argues that, since Bellows did not witness the events he painted, he has no right to paint them; Bellows replies that he had not known Leonardo da Vinci “had a ticket to paint the Last Supper”.
1919
Teaches at the Art Institute of Chicago
In 1919 he teaches at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1920
Builds a house in Woodstock
From 1920 he spends nearly half of each year in Woodstock, New York, where he builds a home for his family.
1920
“Men of the Docks” bought for the Maier Museum
Students and locals raise $2,500 to buy “Men of the Docks” for the Maier Museum of Art, the first masterpiece in its collection (now at Randolph College).
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