Irish Grandmother (Primary Title)
The Old Woman (Alternate Title)
George Bellows, American, 1882 - 1925 (Artist)
Bolton Coit Brown, American, 1864–1936 (Printer)
Irish Grandmother is one of fifteen images that George
Bellows produced, on commission from Century Magazine,
for The Wind Bloweth, Donn Byrne’s serialized novel set in
19th-century Ireland. Like other Ashcan artists, Bellows was
interested in visualizing age and ethnicity, as he did in this
lithograph (there is no evidence, however, that the artist ever
visited Ireland). Suggesting the grandmother’s old age, her frail,
spindly hands—one holding a cane and the other resting on a
book—are positioned closest to the picture frame. In making
an appeal to the viewer, they join the woman’s eyes, which
seem to look both at and through us.
Signed Geo Bellows in graphite beneath image lower right
Inscribed in graphite beneath image lower left: Bolton Brown imp. Inscribed in graphite beneath image in center: To Gari Melcher
Gift of Mrs. Corinne Lawton Melchers
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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