Old Fisherman

A bearded man, wearing a black cap and heavy dark clothing, glances slightly to his left and away from an unseen light source illuminating his face from the right in this vigorously painted portrait attributed to George Bellows. What may be bunched netting is slung casually over his shoulder, but the blank background provides no further clues to the subject's identity or calling. His bright-eyed expression and the hint of a grimace in the set of his mouth suggest a workman's discomfort under the painter's scrutiny and with the unfamiliar strain of holding a pose. His white shirt collar, which sets off the roughness of his bearded face, injects the image with a note of formality that is more consistent with the painting's conventional format and dimensions than with its humble subject and bold technique. As in Ivan L. Albright's Fleeting Time, Thou Hast Left Me Old (TF 1996.80), individual character and social type are combined in this study.

Although the painting has not been decisively attributed to Bellows, it is consistent with that artist's early interest in portraits. Under the influence of Robert Henri, his charismatic teacher at the New York School of Art, Bellows as a student painted numerous "heads"—studies of individuals and character types from all walks of life. In these works he followed Henri's example in technique as well, focusing tightly on the sitter, working rapidly in broad strokes of paint, and further enlivening the image with dramatic contrasts of light and dark. Henri and his circle, including Bellows, were notoriously drawn to urban social types, incidents, and settings, but they also sought out as subjects representatives of more traditional ways of life, individuals—such as fisherfolk—who answered their search for a compelling authenticity.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 1993.

Face to Face: Portraits from the Collections of Terra Museum of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 8, 1994–April 2, 1995.

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.

Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France and Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury (International Cultural Center), Crakow, Poland (organizers). Venue: International Cultural Center, Crakow, Poland, February 15–May 7, 2006. [exh. cat.]

Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (Sale 1077, May 26, 1949): lot 91. Ill. lot 91, p. 39 (black & white).

Old Fisherman, George Bellows. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 1993. Ill. (black & white).

Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940/Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940. (exh. cat. International Cultural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Ill. p. 111 (color).