The Model, Second Stone

Art Historical Context

**The Model, Second Stone is a striking graphic arts print by George Bellows, influential American artist of the early 20th. Capturing a full-length nude figure this work exemplifies Bellows' bold exploration of the human form, rendered with his characteristic directness and vitality. Housed in the Smithsonian American Museum through the bequest of Frank McClure it reflects the artist's shift toward more intimate, modernist subjects later in his career, following his fame for gritty urban scenes and boxing matches. Bellows, associated with the Ashcan School's realist movement, mastered lithog...

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 ...