Love of Winter - Bellows

love of winter - george Bellows

George Bellows was born in Columbus, Ohio. He received his art education and spent much of his adult life in New York City. During, his career he created a rich collection of paintings that mirror the first quarter-century of urban American life. He painted everything he encountered in the city: ethnic neighborhoods, circus acts, young children playing in the street, and everyday scenes of city life in New York.

In 1914 he painted the Love of Winter which depicts the excitement of speed skating outdoors in the middle of winter. Though the background suggests a rural setting; he actually used a pond in Central Park. His use of bright colors and strong brush strokes convey the mood of and action of the scene. Bellows captures a moment of time on his canvas, freezing the skaters and spectators as they enjoy a crisp winter day.

This painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago®. PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED RESOURCE PACKET FROM THE ART INSTITUTE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PIECE. This teaching packet includes an essay, discussion questions, activity ideas, a glossary, and an image of the artwork

Quotation below from the Book: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism Art Institute of Chicago. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in The Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, p. 108.

"In January 1914, George Bellows lamented in a letter, "There has been none of my favorite snow. I must always paint the snow at least once a year." Since 1907 Bellows had regularly executed winter scenes. These works, which earned him critical recognition, reflect the deep pleasure he took in the brisk temperatures and bright light of the season. On February 13, when a blizzard blanketed New York City with fresh, white snow, Bellows eagerly got to work, painting Love of Winter, a rollicking depiction of skaters defying the cold with their energetic activity.

In Love of Winter, Bellows celebrated his favorite time of year with closely observed vignettes: a mother takes her daughter’s hand, boys race across the ice, a man laces on his skates. The work’s fresh appeal derives from the artist’s bold palette. Bellows’s interest in the effects of color, as well as his dedication to Realism, was first sparked in 1904, when he attended the New York School of Art. Like many American artists around the turn of the twentieth century, Bellows practiced Tonalism, a method pioneered by George Inness and James McNeill Whistler in which a single tone dictates the chromatic range throughout a composition. In his winter paintings, Bellows took a daring, new direction, introducing sharp contrasts that convey bright light gleaming on frozen surfaces. He based his experiments on a system developed by the paint manufacturer Hardesty Maratta, who marketed a set of twelve colors, assigning each a musical note to suggest combinations based on harmonious chord structures. Bellows applied Maratta’s rules liberally, for the jarring contrasts in Love of Winter—the strong yellows and oranges that flick across the dominant icy blues—add as much vitality as harmony to this lively scene."

questions:

• What is the first thing that you see? This is the focal point. The focal point is what first draws your eye, something that stands out. Note the contrast between the deep blue tones of the hills and trees in the background and the vibrant array of colors used for the skates in the foreground.
• Which figures stand out the most? Where are the children playing in the painting? Which people are the most active and inactive? The artist had two daughters; do you think any of the people in the painting could be them? Hint — the two figures in the center of the foreground are his daughters.
• Which colors are used? How do they make you feel? Cold colors recede on the painting and warm colors come forward. Bellows uses warm colors to grab the viewer's attention to the two central figures.
• What types of winter clothing are the people in the painting wearing? Is this what you would wear to play int he snow? People dressed differently in 1914 than today. Talk about clothes then and today.
• When George Bellows taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he told his students "You don't know what you are able to do until you try it. Try everything that can be done." What do you think this means?

activities:

Ask the students to draw a picture of their favorite season and what they like to do in that season.

Ask the student to draw a picture of themselves and their families doing an activity on a snowy day.

Make a list of themes or subjects associated with cool colors and warm colors. Divide the class in half. Have half the students choose one theme and make a drawing in warm colors and the other half make a drawing in cool colors.

resources:

Additional Kid Friendly Resources at the AHML are "Winter Trees" by Carole Gerber and "Winter is the Warmest Season" by Lauren Stringer.