Polo at Lakewood 1910

"Polo at Lakewood" by George Bellows feels like it was painted in the heat of the moment, capturing the urgency and commotion of the polo field. You can almost feel the churned-up earth and the bracing wind as you get caught up in the drama of the game. I can just imagine Bellows diving right in there, trying to capture the movement, the energy, the sheer spectacle of it all. The paint is applied in these really confident strokes. It's almost like he's wrestling with the canvas to get everything down. And the sky! It’s amazing how Bellows uses the stormy clouds, rendered with such dynamic brushwork, to mirror the action below. I am reminded of artists like John Sloan and other painters in his circle, capturing the pulse of life around them. I imagine them egging each other on, painting as a way of grappling with the world. Isn’t it amazing how painters have always built upon each other's work? It’s like we're all just trying to make sense of things, one brushstroke at a time.