Splinter Beach

A celebrated painter, George Bellows was also a renowned printmaker, whose work exploited the medium of print to achieve rich tonal effects, translating well to the gritty, and often impoverished scenes he chose to illustrate. Bellow’s training in printmaking and graphic design is evident in his lithograph Splinter Beach, which was executed in the peak of the artist’s production, and remains emblematic of the artist’s New York career. In terms of subject matter, the artist remained devoted to a realist depiction of the vitality of the lower classes, frequenting areas of congregation, including tenements, boxing halls, beaches, parks and alleyways. Splinter Beach is one of a significant series of illustrations that the artist produced for the socialist magazine The Masses in 1913. Based on single figure sketches, this lithograph captures the dynamism of young boys cavorting at a local swim spot. As the naked boys traipse along the East River under the Brooklyn and gather in the foreground, Bellows inserts a dense and dreary cityscape, reminding his viewers that the grimy riverside scene is far from a seafront vacation, but rather, and intimate observation of the stark reality of New York’s lower class.