Philosopher on the rock

Bellows, George, 1882-1925 · 1916

Summer in Central Park. (Bellows) / The chubby youngster, second from the right, contemplates the circling little girls in a pose reminiscent of Rodin's "The Thinker." Several other lithographs followed using the same locale, New York's Central Park. It may have been technical problems with the medium that obscured Bellows' intention to contrast the spirited little girls with the brooding boy. His desire to juxtapose sunlight and shadows is not realized successfully in this work. The subject, reversed, appeared first as a drawing that was the frontispiece in "The Masses," June 1915, captioned "Philosopher on the Rock: 'Gee, but kids is happy when they're young'." (Mason)