1924
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Drunk is a 1924 by George Bellows, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows a drunk father confronting his wife with a fist. The scene is disturbing, with a daughter trying to help and children cowering in the corner. It was made to support Prohibition, which had recently gone into effect. The artist used this image to make a point about social issues, and to learn more, you can look up artist: George Bellows (American, 1882–1925).
George Bellows made this lithograph as an illustration for an article in support of Prohibition published in Good Housekeeping by American suffragist Mabel Potter Daggett. Supporters of Prohibition, which had gone into effect in 1920, believed that alcohol was responsible for many societal problems, including physical violence. In this distressing image, a drunken father confronts his wife with a fist, while a daughter steps in to help and children cower in the corner. Bellows’s strong triangular composition reveals his fascination with an artistic theory called “dynamic symmetry,” in which…
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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