My Family

Art Historical Context

George Bellows painted "My Family" in 1916, capturing a deeply personal subject at a pivotal moment in his career. Working in oil on canvas—a medium prized for its rich textures, luminous color, and capacity for both bold brushwork and subtle detail—Bellows created a substantial composition measuring over five feet across. The large scale invites viewers to feel immersed in the domestic scene, as if entering the artist’s own household. Created during the First World War, the work reflects Bellows’s shift toward intimate portraits alongside his well-known urban and sporting subjects. As an American painter associated with realist traditions, he used the painting to explore family relationships with warmth and honesty rather than idealization. Today in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, "My Family" offers visitors a touching glimpse of early twentieth-century American life through one artist’s eyes.

About the Artist

George Bellows · 1882–1925

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 ...