Both Members of This Club 1909

George Bellows made this painting, “Both Members of This Club,” with oil on canvas, in a time when process wasn't so much a thing, but here we are. Bellows is going hard with the darks here, like he’s wrestling with them himself. Check out the crowd; each face is a jab of paint, a spectator in the drama of mark-making. The real punch, though, is in the fighters. The dark fighter is a slick, strong mass, and the one on the left? He’s a mess of pale pinks and reds, like raw meat. I'm looking at the ropes cutting across the scene. They're like scars, slicing up the canvas but also kind of holding it together. It makes me think of Goya. He was another artist who wasn't afraid to throw punches with paint. What do you think?