Polo Sketch (1921): Art, History and Details

Polo Sketch (1921) 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:

After witnessing his first polo match, Bellows described his fascination in a letter to his former English professor at Ohio State University: “I’ve been making studies of the wealthy game polo played by the ultra rich. And let me say these ultra rich have nerve tucked under their vest pocket. It’s an Aladdin’s lamp sort of game. You wish to be a hundred yards to your left, you kick your heels—and there you are. . . . The players are nice looking, moral looking. The horses are beautiful. I believe they brush their teeth and bathe them in goat’s milk. It is a great subject to draw.

Object facts

• Title: Polo Sketch
• Date: 1921
• Creator attribution: George Bellows (American, 1882–1925)
• Culture: America
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph
• Dimensions: Image: 21 x 26.3 cm (8 1/4 x 10 3/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1936.640

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.