1921
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
In the Subway is a 1921 by George Bellows, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a crowded subway car at night—two people grinning at each other across the aisle, strangers watching, dim lights flickering. This was painted in 1921, when New York’s subway was still new. For five cents, anyone could ride, turning public transit into a stage for city life. Bellows caught the energy of strangers packed together, sharing a moment. Look up more paintings of *america* to see how artists showed everyday life.
Public transportation offered one of the various forms of entertainment to be had in the city: people watching. Here, George Bellows captured an amorous couple in a jolly mood who smile across the aisle at other travelers on a night out. The first subway line in New York City, from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Harlem, opened in 1904. By 1920, there were three lines covering the city’s outer boroughs and both sides of Manhattan. For five cents each, couples could go almost anywhere in the city for a night out on the town.
The somewhat old-fashioned clothing of this couple by 1920s New York standards suggests that they may be recent immigrants to the city from Europe.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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.
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