Realist painter who moved from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to New York City, establishing himself as a painter of the bustling urban landscape. He was associated with The Eight and was influenced by Robert Henri. Running counter to the academic tradition prevalent in the United States in the early twentieth century, George Bellows and other realist painters began rendering the city life around them with candor and vitality. Bellows had terminated his college education in Columbus, Ohio, to move to New York in 1904 to study art.

Enrolled in the New York School of Art headed by William Merritt Chase, Bellows was a pupil of Robert Henri for about two years. One of the century's most influential art teachers, Henri was also the galvanizing force for the group of painters who became known as the Ashcan School because of their dark-toned depictions of city life, including its unsavory aspects. Although Bellows did not exhibit with the group in 1908, he was clearly in sympathy with the style and content of work by its members: Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, George Luks, and Everett Shinn. Bellows displayed a particular gift for capturing the energy and movement of crowds on the street and at public events.

Much admired in academic circles, his work was included regularly in exhibitions organized by the National Academy of Design. His popularity was further enhanced by a series of paintings devoted to prizefights and boxing clubs in New York activities closely followed by the athletically inclined artist. In 1913 Bellows achieved official recognition when he was elected a full academician by the National Academy of Design. Such honors meant little to Bellows, however. A tireless worker for the break with academic tradition, he helped to organize the Exhibition of Independent Artists in 1910 and the International Exhibition of Modern Art, more commonly referred to as the Armory Show, in 1913. A group of his oil paintings and drawings was included in the latter.