Artwork Page for Self-Portrait

Details / Information for Self-Portrait

Self-Portrait

1921

George Bellows

(American, 1882–1925)
Culture
America
Medium
lithograph
Measurements
Sheet: 29.7 x 22.6 cm (11 11/16 x 8 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1935.279
Catalogue raisonné
Mason 114
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

George Bellows attended the Ohio State University and the year that this self-portrait was made marked the school's only loss in football to another team from the state of Ohio.

Description

Bellows’s Self-Portrait wittily presents himself in the very act of creating it. Reflected in a scallop-framed mirror, the artist intently studies his likeness while recording it on the thick lithographic stone that would be prepared and inked to make this print. He sports the bow tie often worn during this period of his career, and a cigarette dangles from his free hand. Bellows frequently attempted to break his smoking habit, writing on one occasion to a friend, “. . . all winter I have been making evasive gestures at cigarettes usually with the left hand and lighting them with the right.”
A vertically oriented lithograph depicts a balding man with a light skin tone seated in a studio, facing us directly with a steady gaze. He wears a dark jacket over a white shirt and bowtie. His hands rest on a rectangular stone covered in markings at the bottom of the frame. Behind him, a framed picture and shelves emerge from dark, textured shadows that contrast with the sharp light on his face.

Self-Portrait

1921

George Bellows

(American, 1882–1925)
America

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

Contact Us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please fill out the appropriate request form linked below:

Update or Correct Artwork Information

Imagery or Rights for Non-Open-Access Artworks

Report a Website Issue

Further Questions About This Artwork