Tennis

The lithograph Tennis by George Bellows is a view of half of a tennis court, seen from the side, on which a men's doubles tennis match is in play, observed by numerous spectators. Two players occupy the foreground: one dramatically reaches up with his racket to hit a high-flying ball while the other lunges forward, anticipating a return shot. Beyond, elegant spectators sit along the sidelines while others leisurely stroll or sit on the lovely tree-dotted grounds in front of a field house in the background. Rather than focus on the athletes and the game, the image emphasizes the picturesque setting, with figures clustered on a lawn dappled by long afternoon shadows alternating with patches of sunlight. To evoke the gracious afternoon light and the genteel social setting of the tennis match, Bellows exploited the particular textural softness of the lithographic crayon, by means of which he delineated forms through tonal contrast rather than clear line.

In 1918 and 1919, Bellows summered in Rhode Island, where he attended Newport Casino's annual tennis tournament, a major sport event and social occasion held each August. This experience inspired two related paintings, Tennis Tournament (1920, National Gallery of Art) and a variant Tennis at Newport (1919, Metropolitan Museum of Art), which he subsequently retranslated into this lithograph. Bellows had made a name for himself for his depictions of the tawdrier sides of urban and working-class life, such as his dramatic Billy Sunday (TF 1995.13), but around 1920 he began to turn toward less shocking subjects, such as middle-class leisure life and his own family. By that date he was also realizing a significant income from sales of his prints.

Bellows had taken up lithography in 1916, when he was already an accomplished painter and draftsman of daily life, and he soon became an enthusiastic and influential advocate for the medium. Although he had his own lithography studio, he preferred to collaborate with master printers to make editions of his lithographs. Tennis and its companion, The Tournament (TF 1995.12), are among the first he printed in collaboration with master printer Bolton Brown. During the nine years that Bellows worked in lithography, he made 193 lithographs, which rank among the most important graphic works in American art.

L'héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]

Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.

Bellows, Emma S. and Thomas Beer. George W. Bellows: His Lithographs. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. No. 189 (as Tennis Tournament).

Mason, Lauris and Joan Ludman. The Lithographs of George Bellows: A Catalog Raisonné. Millwood, New York: KTO Press, 1977. No. 71, p. 114.

Myers, Jane and Linda Ayres. George Bellows: The Artist and His Lithographs, 1916–1924. (exh. cat., Amon Carter Museum). Forth Worth, Texas: Amon Carter Museum, 1988. No. 59.

Master Prints of Five Centuries: The Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection. (exh. cat., The Detroit Institute of Arts). Detroit, Michigan: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1990. No. 14, p. 47.

Lithographs from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Harold Rifkin. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries). New York: Adelson Galleries, 1999. No. 18.

Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 22 (checklist). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 22 (checklist). [specific reference to Terra print]