Ox Team, Wharf at Matinicus 1916

George Bellows made this scene of Maine with oil on canvas. The scene comes to life through layers of brushstrokes, each dab and stroke a little decision, a little correction. Bellows makes it look easy, but you can sense the struggle, the artist figuring it out as he goes. I imagine Bellows, squinting in the salty air, trying to capture the way the light hits those buildings and the broad backs of the oxen. Those brushstrokes are so loaded, they are almost sculptural! The oxen almost dissolve into the background with the harmonious palette of blues, browns, greens, and whites. Bellows was part of the Ashcan School, those guys who painted everyday life with a gritty realism, and you see that here. This piece is a reminder that painting is about seeing, feeling, and wrestling with the world, just like those oxen wrestling with their load.