Amon Carter print details

The Fisherman

George Bellows (1882-1925)

Object Details

  • Date

    1917

  • Object Type

    Paintings

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    44 x 30 1/8 in.

  • Inscriptions

    Recto:

    signed, l.r. on rock pier: Geo. Bellows

    Verso:

    on stretcher:

  • Credit Line

    Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

  • Accession Number

    2016.9

  • Copyright

    Public domain

Object Description

As one of the artist’s last masterworks of the sea, this painting represents Bellows’ passion for fishing as a physical and spiritual sport. Created during a trip to Carmel, California, the artist suggests the timeless struggle between man and nature through the lone fisherman casting his line into the powerful surf at Point Lobos. The artist’s exuberant brushstrokes and brilliant palette amplify the contrasting motions of the ocean and angler.

Bellows probably modeled the fisherman after himself. As a solitary figure trying to maneuver his fishing pole against the crashing waves, he is a metaphor for the artist, who considered the sea one of the most challenging themes to capture on canvas.

Additional details

Location: On view
W28-artist-CMYK-CarterBlack
See more by George Bellows

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Educator Resources

  • What techniques do artists use to show a sense of motion and balance or imbalance in their work?

    How is the archetypal theme of human versus nature depicted in works of art?

    What symbolic roles has the sea played in the artistic traditions of various groups and cultures?

    How have attitudes about leisure and its place in society changed or stayed the same over time?

  • Grades 1–5

    Ask students to imagine the sensory experience of this moment: how does the rock feel under their shoes? What sounds do they hear? What smells are present? Ask students to adopt the pose of the fisherman: What might be his next motion?

    Grades 6–12

    Ask students to consider a time in their own life when they struggled with something (athletic, academic, or personal). How did they find the balance to succeed or overcome it? Students will then create/design a way to show the balance between the difficulty of that situation and the growth that resulted from it.

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