GEORGE BELLOWS (1882 -1925) Lithograph: “Man on his back, Nude.” circa 1916 (Numbered 17 in an edition of 19 Prints in the Series - Signed by the Artist’s Daughter, Jean Bellows Booth (1915-2007).

“It seems to me that an artist must be a spectator of life; a reverential, enthusiastic, emotional spectator, and then the great dramas of human nature will surge through his mind.” (GEORGE BELLOWS, 1917) The Artist..(Below)

Man on his Back, Nude. Circa 1916

During my adventures into the online Auction World over the last few weeks, now that there seems to be a huge dry spell in the various European Auction sites, I noticed there was an auction of 19th and 20th Century prints at the Rachael Davis Fine Arts site. As I wondered through the pre-sale online gallery, I ran across a print by the famous American Artist GEORGE BELLOWS (1882-1925) titled: “Man on his back, Nude,” ca. 1916. I have always loved the American printmakers of the early 20th century since buying a print by Thomas Hart Benton that I found at an Antiques store in New York City in the late 1970’s shortly after Benton’s death. Anyone familiar with the works of George Bellows knows his prints and paintings are full of energy and movement. The auction estimate was in the range of affordable so I decided to sign up and take part in the Live Auction sale. In the mean time, unlike some of my past unsuccessful auction efforts, I decided to do some in-depth research on the print and found the Bellows Family Trust Site online which lists all of his prints available for purchase from the Family Trust found in his studio after his death. I found this particular print in their list of available prints for sale and just about swallowed my chewing gum when I saw the listed price (below). Original signed Bellows Prints can bring a very hefty asking price so I thought why not go for it. It is pulled from the original stone and is number 17 of a rare limited edition of 19 prints. I realize the main objective of selling these prints posthumously is mainly to keep the heirs in cash. Strangely enough the GEORGE BELLOWS Gallery emphatically says that all of GEORGE BELLOWS lithographs were pulled by him and some were left unsigned and later signed by his wife and after her death by his daughter. Here’s a quote from the website: “Thomas French Fine Art has represented the Bellows Family Trust since 2001. The Bellows Family Trust holds original lithographs and drawings created by George Wesley Bellows and left in the artist’s studio at the time of his unexpected early death. All of George Bellows’ original lithographs were printed by the artist or under his direct supervision. There are no posthumous impressions of any of George Bellows’ lithographs. George Bellows was introduced to fine art lithography by Albert Sterner in 1916. George Bellows was a quick study and soon became the leading printmaker of the Ashcan School. As he became more proficient in lithography, George Bellows employed the services of master lithographic printers, George C. Miller and later, Bolton Brown. George Bellows' daughter Jean recalls that Bellows would work until dawn with his printers to achieve the desired pictorial effects, often destroying lithographs that did not meet his exacting standards. Many drawings and lithographs were unsigned at the time of George Bellows death at age 43. At first the artist's widow, Emma S. Bellows, signed the remaining lifetime impressions of his works with the artist's name followed by her initials (ESB). After Emma Bellows' death, her daughter Jean Bellows Booth continued to sign these lifetime impressions of the original lithographs and drawings with the artist’s name followed by her initials (JBB)." Here’s the jaw dropping asking price from the site:

Further research indicated that Jean Bellows Booth died in 2007 so she won’t be signing anymore prints left over in the studio after her father’s untimely death. What the heck, the auction estimate was affordable so I decided to make a stab at owning the print and fortunately it is now part of my collection and it didn’t cost what the Family Trust Gallery was asking. Research materials record that 1916 was the year that GEORGE BELLOWS went from strictly painting and into the world of lithography. The first nudes he produced from life were examples of him exploring his new medium and perhaps technical exercises as he explored and learned the intricacies of the medium. As often in his lithographs he used the entire picture surface, filling the foreground and the background of the image with atmospheric texture. In his early nudes, Bellows explored the various possibilities of lithography using various drawing materials, “Male on His Back, Nude” being one of them. Do some deep digging and explore the beautiful graphic works of GEORGE BELLOWS!

Georg Jahn (1869 - 1940) Drypoint Print Titled: Fünf nackte Knaben beim Spiel am Strand (Five Nude Boys Playing on The Beach) Circa 1900

Fünf nackte Knaben beim Spiel am Strand... The Artist (Below)

The halls of the various European eBay Auction Sites have been like the Saraha desert lately in regards to affordable academic nudes, (Some examples are so rediculously over priced that I have watched them stew on eBay for months on end) so, as I am want to do in my old age, I decided to search for additional works by artists I already have in my collection, the most recent example being Georg Jahn (1869-1940). I went on an adventure in the online Auction and Art Gallery world and found there are few and far between examples of nudes by Georg Jahn which are affordable. So I kept digging and up popped the Georg Jahn print titled "Fünf nackte Knaben beim Spiel am Strand" from a gallery in Germany. I suddenly had a vague memory of a similar print being up for grabs on eBay Germany several years ago and that I had lost the bidding on that ocassion. Thanks to Biden's destruction of the US Dollar and the resultant addition of more Biden dollars into my monthly income I decided that this rare print was now affordable, so I bought it. To say Georg Jahn was a master printmaker would be a gross understatement. If you will do some basic research you will see that he produced some very fine portraits and landscapes. Another example of "What goes around eventually comes around?" I'll say it is! Here is some additional biography on Jahn from the Armstrong Fine Art site: "Georg JAHN As many artists in the 19th century, Georg Jahn (1869-1940) started his formal training as an artist with an apprenticeship. In his case this was as a porcelain painter at the royal porcelain factory in Meißen when he was just 14 years old and it lasted to 1888. Clearly showing promise, he was awarded a scholarship to the art academy in Dresden by the manufactory. Jahn studied at the art academy with Leon Pohle from 1888 to 1890. In 1890 he moved on to study at the Großherzoglichen Sächsischen Kunstschule in Weimar with Max Thedy. After completing his military service, he launched his independent career as an illustrator and portraitist in Berlin (1894-95), then in Leipzig and Munich (1895-96). By 1897 Georg Jahn had returned to Dresden for good. He joined a newly formed artists' association, the Verein Bildender Künstler Dresden (Secession). His close friend Max Pietschmann introduced him to etching around that time. The technique would soon become all-consuming to Jahn, who is today almost exclusively remembered for his etchings. He is thought to have left over 300 compositions, which are executed with great detail. His fine line renders modulations of light in grayscales few etchers of his time were ever able to attain. Portraits dominate his oeuvre, as do nudes, scenes of everyday life in small towns and along seashores". (Personal Note: Google has decided to improve the way blogs are composed and posted, which of course has screwed up what used to be a very easy process for seasoned citizens like me, now making it a pain in the rump, so forgive any spacing and allignments of paragraphs. Apparently Google has taken a page from Apple's engineering improvements to turn simple for ordinary peasants into happy fields of elysium for computer geeks and sycophants worshiping at Apple's multi-billion dollar phallus)(There I said it)