# George Wesley Bellows artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/george-wesley-bellows/
Profile generated: 2026-08-19T09:25:19.948Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: American realism, Ashcan School context
- Common media: Oil painting, Lithography, Works on paper

## Portrait

![George Wesley Bellows](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/George_bellows.jpg)
by Peter A. Juley & Son · Public domain
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_bellows.jpg

## About George Wesley Bellows

George Wesley Bellows (1882–1925), widely known as George Bellows, was an American painter and lithographer associated with American realism and the Ashcan School context. He became especially recognized for energetic scenes of urban New York, including boxing matches, crowded city life, and images of social inequality. His practice also included landscapes, portraits, and works addressing the violence of the First World War. Bellows began making lithographs in 1916 and produced an important body of prints during the final years of his life. Collectors and appraisers commonly encounter his paintings, lithographs, and other works on paper in museum collections and public auction records. The combination of athletic movement, urban subject matter, strong draftsmanship, and a relatively short career gives individual works an especially important relationship to medium, date, condition, provenance, and attribution.

## Common works and media

Auction and appraisal records for George Bellows commonly include oil paintings, lithographs, prints, and other works on paper. Frequently encountered subject areas include boxing scenes, New York urban life, crowded tenement settings, landscapes, portraits, and images related to wartime suffering. Prints should be evaluated with attention to edition details, impression, paper, margins, condition, signature, and any catalogue or provenance documentation. Paintings require comparison by medium, dimensions, date, subject, condition, and attribution. Sculpture, mixed-media, decorative-art, and edition records may also appear in broad market databases, but their relationship to Bellows's best-known paintings and lithographs should be assessed individually.

## Market and appraisal context

George Bellows works should be valued through comparisons with closely related examples rather than a single artist-wide figure. Relevant distinctions include painting versus lithography, original work versus editioned print, dimensions, date, subject, and place within his career. Condition, restoration, surface quality, signature or inscription, edition information, provenance, exhibition history, and catalogue references may materially affect appraisal. Public auction results can help establish a range for comparable works, but they may not represent private transactions and may report buyer premiums or fees differently. Attribution and authenticity require appropriate specialist review, especially when documentation or provenance is incomplete.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Public records are informative market evidence, not a substitute for a specialist appraisal or authentication.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q167132
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/27338136/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/455
- National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.940.html
- Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/bellows-george-18821925
- British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG19126
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/027539938
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/george-wesley-bellows/
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_bellows.jpg