Stag at Sharkey's
1909
Step right up to the raw, sweaty intensity of a 1909 boxing match at New York's Sharkey's Athletic Club! Since professional boxing was illegal, George Bellows painted these 'stag' bouts—fights open only to club members—capturing the brutal energy of the Ashcan School movement. Notice the frantic, loose brushstrokes that make the fighters look like a blur of muscle and violence, while the crowd's faces loom in the darkness, almost grotesque in their bloodlust. Bellows wasn't even allowed inside the club to sketch, so he relied on his imagination and memory to create this masterpiece of urban grit.
- Technique
- Oil on canvas
Location: Cleveland Museum of Art
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