Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
Excavation at Night
George Bellows was attracted to gritty urban scenes. He painted several images of the construction site of Pennsylvania Station in New York. In this night scene, the cavernous excavation pit is deeper than the height of the dimly lit tenement buildings surrounding its edge. In the foreground, a small campfire sends sparks into the night air. While this project led to faster, safer travel, the construction displaced thousands of poor and working-class families.
ArtistGeorge Wesley Bellows, 1882–1925
Date1908
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions45 x 54 7/8 x 2 7/8 in.
Signedl.r., in red paint: Geo Bellows
Inscription(s)verso, on canvas, in black paint: EXCAVATION / AT NIGHT / Geo Bellows / 1947 / B'DWAY / N.Y.
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.77
ClassificationPainting
ProvenanceEstate of the Artist, 1925; to Emma Story Bellows [1884-1959] (Artist's wife), New York, NY, 1925; to Estate of Emma Story Bellows, 1959; (H.V. Allison & Co., New York, NY); Albert L. Sylvester [1903-1973] and Elizabeth E. Sylvester, Boston, MA, 1961; to Estate of Elizabeth E. Sylvester, by 1976. (Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, NY), by 1992; Ed Stein, Seekonk, MA, by 2004; to (Sotheby's, Inc., New York, NY), 2004; purchased by a private foundation for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2004
On ViewYes
This artwork's face covers about 339× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.