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The Drunk

1924
(American, 1882–1925)
America, 20th century
lithograph
Platemark: 39.7 x 33 cm (15 5/8 x 13 in.); Sheet: 57.7 x 44 cm (22 11/16 x 17 5/16 in.)
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1936.579
Catalogue raisonné: Mason 169b
Edition: Second Stone
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

George Bellows made this lithograph as an illustration for an article in support of Prohibition published in Good Housekeeping by American suffragist Mabel Potter Daggett. Supporters of Prohibition, which had gone into effect in 1920, believed that alcohol was responsible for many societal problems, including physical violence. In this distressing image, a drunken father confronts his wife with a fist, while a daughter steps in to help and children cower in the corner. Bellows’s strong triangular composition reveals his fascination with an artistic theory called “dynamic symmetry,” in which geometry is used to promote continuity, flow, and balance.
The Drunk

The Drunk

1924

George Bellows

(American, 1882–1925)
America, 20th century

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