“Ho Bellows!” the crowds at The Ohio State University would cheer for Columbus’ George Bellows (1882-1925) as he raced down the basketball court or around the baseball diamond. Bellows turned down a spot with the Cincinnati Reds to instead move to New York City, where he studied painting. He was soon established as a major player among American artists.

Bellows brought athletic vitality to painting with a vigorous style featuring freely applied paint and frenetic brushwork. In 1910, Bellows executed a series of polo paintings including Polo at Lakewood (45¼ inches by 63¼ inches; oil on canvas) which is on display at the Columbus Museum of Art. Bellows conveys the excitement and movement of a polo match using clever design and dashing paint handling.

The white border of the playing field zigzags across the canvas; the diagonals are reflected in the turbulent sky. The grey clouds slash across the surface in a series of mighty strokes suggesting gusty winds. The main action is the practically airborne cluster of horses and riders. Swirls of impasto and detail carved into the wet paint reveals a painter who knows where he wants to go and wastes no time getting there. The lower right quadrant shows a dapper crowd which serves as a calming foil to the violent game.

Bellows’ career soared until halted by his untimely death at age 43. Polo at Lakewood was the first painting purchased for what later became the Columbus Museum of Art. That purchase was a wise move. A similar painting by Bellows, Polo Crowd, was purchased in 1999 by Bill Gates for $27.5 million.

Today, Bellows is recognized as one of America’s greatest artists, and we have one of the largest collections of his work in the world. Take some time to visit the masterpiece that started it all.

The Columbus Museum of Art is located at 480 E. Broad St. Visit www.columbusmuseum.org.  

Artist Michael McEwan serves as Artist-in-Residence at Capital University, where he teaches painting and drawing classes. He also teaches classes and workshops in painting for adult students in his Clintonville studio. McEwan 's paintings may be found in the permanent collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; the Schumacher Gallery at Capital University, Columbus; the Catholic Diocese of Columbus; the Swope Museum of American Art, Terre Haute, Ind.; the Elzay Gallery at Ohio Northern University, Ada and more than 400 private and corporate collections. www.michaelmcewan.com.