1916
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Preliminaries is a 1916 by George Bellows, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows a group of wealthy people taking their seats. They are at a boxing match in Madison Square Garden. This scene is interesting because it shows women attending a boxing match for the first time in New York. The artist highlights the spectators, not the match itself. Look up the technique of chiaroscuro to learn more about how artists use light and dark.
By 1916, the year Bellows created Preliminaries, boxing was legal in New York and had begun attracting audiences beyond its usual working-class, male demographic. Relegating the ensuing match to the background, this print focuses on a group of wealthy spectators who arrive to take their seats in Madison Square Garden. According to the artist’s widow, the subject was occasioned by the first bout in New York to which women were permitted to attend.
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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