The Holdup, first state (1921): Art, History and Details

The Holdup, first state (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:

When the New York Times reviewed this work by George Bellows in 1921, it described it as a “subject interpreted in the spirit of Dickens. With a hint of melodrama, a hint of comedy, and a pinch of realism.” Bellows cast the episode as humorous; a gentleman in a fancy waistcoat and top hat is jumped by a thief with a small handgun and an accomplice emerging from the shadows behind. For such caricatured encounters, Bellows may have looked to the long history of political satire in the popular press. This is the first of two states, or versions, that Bellows made of this print.

Object facts

• Title: The Holdup, first state
• Date: 1921
• Creator attribution: George Bellows (American, 1882–1925)
• Culture: America
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph
• Dimensions: Platemark: 28 x 21.6 cm (11 x 8 1/2 in.); Sheet: 32.8 x 26.5 cm (12 15/16 x 10 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1936.548

A detail from the museum

Their hats—a top hat, and a flat cap, or newsboy—help to distinguish the high society and working-class status of the two main characters in this print.

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.