Artwork
Mother and Children
Mother and Children is an ink print by George Bellows. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left in graphite: No 65; lower center in graphite: Mother and Children; lower right in graphite: Geo Bellows; upper right in plate: Geo Bellows
About this work
Overview
The composition depicts a woman reclining on a bed, attended by two small children within a cramped, dimly lit interior.
Mother and Children is a 1916 lithograph by American realist George Bellows, executed in black ink on paper. The composition depicts a woman reclining on a bed, attended by two small children within a cramped, dimly lit interior. Bellows employs his characteristic vigorous, scratchy line work to render the figures and their surroundings, emphasizing the texture of the bedding and the clutter of the room.
A window in the background reveals a dark street, contrasting the interior intimacy with the urban night outside. Created during the height of Bellows' printmaking activity, the work reflects his commitment to depicting the unvarnished realities of domestic life and the working class. The piece aligns with the Ashcan School tradition, focusing on the psychological weight and physical exhaustion of the subjects rather than idealized domesticity.
This lithograph demonstrates Bellows' ability to translate the immediacy of his oil paintings into the graphic medium, capturing a moment of quiet fatigue and maternal presence within the modern city.
Subject & Meaning
The scene presents a mother lying on a simple bed, flanked by her two children, within a modest, cluttered room that includes a table and a window opening onto a dark street. The figures appear exhausted, suggesting themes of poverty, familial responsibility, and the quiet struggles of everyday life in an urban setting.
Technique & Style
Executed with stone lithography, Bellows applied ink directly to a prepared stone surface, then transferred the image onto paper. The print is characterized by aggressive, scratchy lines and a limited tonal range, creating a sense of immediacy and tension. The stark monochrome palette heightens the atmosphere of confinement and fatigue.
History & Provenance
Created during Bellows’s early forays into printmaking, the work reflects his interest in social realism and urban subjects. While specific ownership records are limited, the lithograph has been included in exhibitions of Bellows’s graphic oeuvre and is held in several public collections that focus on early 20th‑century American art.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City.
Mother and Child, No. 1
Greeting Grandmother (Le Bonjour à la Grand-mère)
Young Woman with Child
Untitled
Greeting Grandmother (Le Bonjour à la Grand-mère)
A Nude Woman in a Fur Wrap
Reine and Margot Seated on a Sofa (No. 2)
Untitled
Two Peasant Girls
Suspension d'audience (Recess of the Hearing)
Maternity (Maternite)- Mother and Children