# Business Men's Class

**George Bellows** (American, 1882–1925)  
1916  
lithograph  
Sheet: 54.1 x 70 cm (21 5/16 x 27 9/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936.630. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1936.630).

## About this work

This scene takes place at the West Side YMCA, where George Bellows lived when he arrived in New York City from Columbus, Ohio, in 1904. Worry about the potentially debilitating impact of sedentary office jobs inspired new forms of exercise, such as calisthenics. Here, we see the artist’s satirical eye, as men of various body types and abilities attempt to mimic the graceful movements of the instructor.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

George Bellows made this in 1916, aged 34. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Lithograph.** Drawn on limestone with a greasy crayon or ink. The stone is kept damp, and the oily printing ink clings only to the drawing. Invented in the 1790s, it let artists print exactly as they drew.

### [George Bellows](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/george-bellows)

American, 1882–1925

Bellows left Ohio State University to study in New York with Robert Henri and became the most celebrated of the younger realists around him. He painted the city with vigorous brushwork: tenement children, the excavation for Pennsylvania Station, Hudson River docks and, most famously, illegal prize fights such as Stag at Sharkey’s. He took up lithography in 1916 and became one of its leading American practitioners. He died at forty-two of a ruptured appendix.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: America
- The artist was 34
- Real size: about 21 × 28 in (54 × 70 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 20th century
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/532.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/532/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/business-men-s-class-cma-115925).