The Barricade 1918

George Bellows made this uncomfortable painting of a 'barricade' with oil on canvas. The painting's process feels fast and loose, like a sketch almost, the dark palette adding to the sense of urgency and danger. There’s a palpable sense of dread in the material handling. Look at the way Bellows applies the paint: thick and opaque. See how the figures on the left are rendered, with broad strokes of brown and grey that define their bodies with an almost brutal directness. The texture is rough, the surface uneven, and this all contributes to the emotional weight of the scene. I think of it like, each brushstroke is a decision, a mark of intent, each dab adding to the sense of violation. The dark, earthy palette feels very human and tragic. Bellows was clearly in conversation with artists like Goya, whose Disasters of War series captures a similar horror and moral outrage. But beyond the overt subject matter, the painting is really just an exchange of ideas across time and an embodiment of our ongoing struggle to grapple with the medium of painting itself.