Stag at Sharkey's: George Bellows and the Art of Sport

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s yearlong Centennial celebration continues with the opening of Stag at Sharkey’s: George Bellows and the Art of Sports. Bellows (1882-1925) was a letterman at Ohio State University and a semipro basketball player turned artist. Using his masterpiece Stag at Sharkey’s (1909, part of the CMA’s permanent collection) as a focal point, this special centennial exhibition explores the artist’s work relating to sport and fitness through nearly two dozen drawings, paintings and lithographs. The CMA explains, “For Bellows, sport and fitness were exhilarating pursuits, and his resultant depictions of skill and rivalry stand as potent symbols for the brash competitive spirit of America itself during the rapidly accelerating Industrial Age.” The exhibition remains on view in the Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery through Sept. 18. Free. (Usmani)