The Reward of Cruelty
1750
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
About the artist
Artist
John Bell
American, Hagerstown, Maryland 1800–1880 Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
See the richer artist page1750
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Reward of Cruelty is a 1750 ink by John Bell, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This woodcut shows a chaotic crowd of people packed into a dim room. Some are standing, others are climbing or leaning on furniture. A dog lies in the foreground, while a few figures in the back seem to be hanging from a balcony. The walls are lined with arched windows, and the air feels thick with tension. The artist packed in so many people that faces blur together, making it hard to tell who’s who. The scene looks like a warning—maybe about greed or punishment. Next, check out how this image was made using woodcut.
American, Hagerstown, Maryland 1800–1880 Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
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