Business-Men's Bath
1923
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
Accession Number
1981.94
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Bellows' *Business-Men's Bath* (1923) is a vibrant lithograph from the Graphic Arts-Print collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum As a leading figure in the Ashcan School of American Realism, Bellows captured the raw energy of urban life with bold lines and dynamic compositions. This print, acquired through museum purchase, showcases his mastery of lithography—a medium that allowed him to produce affordable, widely accessible works depicting everyday scenes with unflinching honesty. The artwork immerses viewers in a steamy bathhouse scene filled with nude businessmen engaged ...
About the Artist
George Bellows
George Wesley Bellows was born on August 12, 1882, in Columbus, Ohio, the only child of building contractor George Bellows Sr. and Anna Smith Bellows, with an older half-sister, Laura. A talented athlete who excelled in baseball and basketball at Ohio State University from 1901 to 1904, Bellows illustrated for the school yearbook before rejecting a professional baseball contract to pursue art. In ...