Artist

George Bellows (Primary)

Title

Artists Judging Works of Art

Date

1916

Century

20th century

Medium & Support

Lithograph on paper

Edition

first state

Dimensions

Frame: 24 x 31 1/2 in. , Image: 14 1/2 x 19 in. , Sheet: 24 x 31 3/8 in.

Style

Ash Can School

Object Type

Prints

Credit Line

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Midgard Foundation with additional support from R. K. Benites

Accession Number

2008.18.61

Copyright

No copyright - United States

The selection and judgments of art juries were an important issue for early 20th-century American artists. The artists that Bellows associated with—initially called The Eight and later expanded to a larger group known as the Ashcan School—had their work routinely rejected by juried exhibitions at New York City’s staid National Academy of Design as their subject matter of everyday urban life was deemed unworthy of the Academy’s standards for fine art. This was one of the defining factors that catalyzed the founding of The Eight. In this lithograph, Bellows uses mild caricature to portray himself and his fellow jury members— Robert Henri is seated at the bottom right, and Bellows himself is standing at the upper right—at the National Arts Club, a venue that had in the past provided alternative exhibition space for these artists outside the Academy.

Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Catalogue Entry
Written by: Cindy Buckner