Both Members of This Club

Both Members of This Club was painted by George Bellows in October 1909, conceived as a follow-up to his earlier Stag at Sharkey's and inspired by the boxing matches he observed at Tom Sharkey's Athletic Club in New York, where private "club" membership was used to circumvent laws against public prizefighting.

The work remained in the artist's possession during his lifetime. After his death in 1925, it passed by inheritance to his wife, Emma S. Bellows, who held it until her death in 1959. The painting subsequently passed through Helen Hackett in New York.

On 29 September 1944, it was purchased through the New York dealer H.V. Allison & Co. by collector Chester Dale, who gave it to the National Gallery of Art later that same year, where it has since remained in the collection.

Both Members of This Club is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it has been part of the museum’s holdings since 1944. The painting was acquired through a purchase from Helen Hackett in New York, facilitated by H.V. Allison & Co., and subsequently gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1944. Its dimensions are 115 cm by 160.5 cm, and it was created in 1909.

The work has been exhibited as part of the National Gallery of Art’s permanent collection display, reflecting its significance within the museum’s holdings.

The painting was inspired by boxing matches at Tom Sharkey's Athletic Club, which Bellows attended, and was completed in October 1909 as a follow-up to his earlier work Stag at Sharkey's.

Painted in October 1909, Both Members of This Club serves as a direct follow-up to George Bellows's earlier work, Stag at Sharkey's. The piece captures the illegal boxing matches held at Tom Sharkey's Athletic Club in New York, where private organizations circumvented city laws by granting temporary membership to fighters on the night of the event. This subject matter situates the painting within Bellows's broader Ashcan School context, which focused on the gritty realism of urban life and the raw energy of the city's underbelly.

By depicting the violence and atmosphere of the ring, the work reflects the artist's engagement with contemporary social dynamics and the specific legal loopholes of the era.

George Bellows’ oil on canvas titled Both Members of This Club was completed in October 1909. Measuring roughly 115 by 160.5 centimeters, the work is part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It depicts a moment of intense physical confrontation between two boxers.