Prayer meeting, first stone

Bellows, George, 1882-1925 · 1916

A testimonial in the church at Monhegan Island, Maine. This was Bellows's first lithograph. (Bellows) / While summering in Maine the artist had witnessed a religious service in a small rural meeting house. The stalwart preacher, the prim pianist, and the provincial congregants listen while a true believer gives testimony. Consequently, a satire was recorded in the artist's memory, sketched, and eventually worked onto two lithographic stones. Emma Bellows recorded this as Bellows' first lithograph because its title appeared at the top of a list he had compiled. It was probably done during the first year of Bellows' serious work in lithography, but it is technically more advanced than several of the other prints listed for the same year. (Mason)