id: 115833
accession number: 1936.548
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1936.548
updated: 2023-01-19 15:15:53.801000
The Holdup, first state, 1921. George Bellows (American, 1882–1925). Lithograph; platemark: 28 x 21.6 cm (11 x 8 1/2 in.); sheet: 32.8 x 26.5 cm (12 15/16 x 10 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1936.548
title: The Holdup, first state
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1921
creation date earliest: 1921
creation date latest: 1921
current location:
creditline: Gift of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.
copyright:
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culture: America, 20th century
technique: lithograph
department: Prints
collection: PR - Lithograph
type: Print
find spot:
catalogue raisonne: Mason 89
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CREATORS
* George Bellows (American, 1882–1925) - artist
An accomplished athlete, George Bellows (1882–1925) was an especially appropriate artist to address the subject of sports. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he played baseball and basketball as a youth, developing sufficient ability to letter in both at Ohio State University. According to some accounts, scouts for the Cincinnati Reds took notice of his shortstop talents. However, Bellows’s first love, art, ultimately intervened, and after his junior year he relocated to New York to study painting. In a remarkably short period he became the leading artist of his generation, a reputation fueled through boxing subjects such as Stag at Sharkey’s. In his later years he developed recreational passions for tennis and billiards, which he routinely played with friends. Bellows’s life was cut short at the age of 42, due to complications after his appendix ruptured.
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measurements: Platemark: 28 x 21.6 cm (11 x 8 1/2 in.); Sheet: 32.8 x 26.5 cm (12 15/16 x 10 7/16 in.)
state of the work: I/II
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: In graphite, center, recto: "Hold Up I"
translation:
remark:
inscription: In graphite, lower right, recto: "Geo Bellows"
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Humor in Prints
opening date: 1934-09-13T04:00:00
Humor in Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 13-October 28, 1934).
title: Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940
opening date: 2021-07-18T04:00:00
Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. [1889-1957], Cleveland, OH
date: ?-1936
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: November 9, 1936
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
Their hats—a top hat, and a flat cap, or newsboy—help to distinguish the high society and working-class status of the two main characters in this print.
digital description:
When the New York Times reviewed this work by George Bellows in 1921, it described it as a “subject interpreted in the spirit of Dickens. With a hint of melodrama, a hint of comedy, and a pinch of realism.” Bellows cast the episode as humorous; a gentleman in a fancy waistcoat and top hat is jumped by a thief with a small handgun and an accomplice emerging from the shadows behind. For such caricatured encounters, Bellows may have looked to the long history of political satire in the popular press. This is the first of two states, or versions, that Bellows made of this print.
wall description:
When the New York Times reviewed this work by George Bellows in 1921, it described it as a “subject interpreted in the spirit of Dickens. With a hint of melodrama, a hint of comedy, and a pinch of realism.” Bellows cast the episode as humorous; a gentleman in a fancy waistcoat and top hat is jumped by a thief with a small handgun and an accomplice emerging from the shadows behind. For such caricatured encounters, Bellows may have looked to the long history of political satire in the popular press. This is the first of two states, or versions, that Bellows made of this print.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES