Business Men's Class (1916): Art, History and Details

Business Men's Class (1916) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is George Bellows (American, 1882–1925).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Business Men's Class
• Date: 1916
• Creator attribution: George Bellows (American, 1882–1925)
• Culture: America
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph
• Dimensions: Sheet: 54.1 x 70 cm (21 5/16 x 27 9/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1936.630

A detail from the museum

The painter George Bellows resided at the West Side YMCA, where this scene takes place, which had 300 beds for men relocating to New York City.

Collection credit

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.