George Bellows moved to New York City as a young man early in the twentieth century hoping to study and become a great artist. The inspiration for the canvases that would distinguish his career ended up being the city itself. But Bellows wasn’t interested in painting majestic skyscrapers. He sought out crowded neighborhoods that weren’t polished and pretty but teeming with life and energy; packed bars where two men boxed ferociously in a makeshift ring; workers on a hazy morning at a construction site. Bellows became known for painting realistic scenes of the tough, gritty side of life in the city. In his canvases, the play of dark and light is visually striking and filled with meaning. Robert’s Burleigh’s image-infused narrative about Bellows’s life and career has the same kind of urgency as the artist’s paintings in this handsome volume that features numerous full-page images of Bellows’s striking work. Ample end matter includes source notes and a list of museums where Bellows’s paintings can be found. (Age 10 and older)