In an Elevator
1916
Medium
lithograph in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 25.6 x 20.3 cm (10 1/16 x 8 in.) sheet: 41.3 x 29.9 cm (16 1/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Jane C. Carey in memory of her mother, Mrs. Addie Burr Clark
Accession Number
1951.13.1
Art Historical Context
George Bellows created this lithograph in 1916, capturing a fleeting moment of everyday urban life during a period of rapid modernization in American cities. The title suggests an intimate glimpse inside an elevator, a relatively new invention that symbolized the vertical growth of skyscrapers and the bustling pace of metropolitan existence. Bellows, associated with the Ashcan School’s focus on realistic depictions of contemporary society, often turned his attention to such ordinary scenes, highlighting the human interactions and rhythms of modern city living. Printed in black on wove paper, ...
About the Artist
George Bellows
George Wesley Bellows was born on August 12, 1882, in Columbus, Ohio, the only child of building contractor George Bellows Sr. and Anna Smith Bellows, with an older half-sister, Laura. A talented athlete who excelled in baseball and basketball at Ohio State University from 1901 to 1904, Bellows illustrated for the school yearbook before rejecting a professional baseball contract to pursue art. In ...