George Bellows / Roy Lichtenstein

Side A: George Bellows (1882-1925) is widely recognized as one of America’s premier artists. His vivid portrayals of modern urban life have become indelible icons of American art. Born and reared in Columbus, he retained close ties here throughout his life. Bellows gained fame while a young artist in New York, becoming a key figure among a group of artists nicknamed the “Ashcan School” because of their preference for commonplace subjects painted in dark colors. Bellows also excelled at printmaking, and it was largely through his efforts that lithography came to be accepted as a fine art in America. Bellow’s career was unexpectedly cut short by his death from complications following an appendectomy at the age of forty-two. Side B: Painter, printmaker, and sculptor Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed artists of the Pop Art movement that revolutionized visual culture in the 1960s. A native of New York, Lichtenstein moved to Columbus to attend The Ohio State University. He interrupted his studies for military service during the Second World War, but returned to the University to earn his B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees, after which he was hired as an instructor. Lichtenstein often credited his studies in perception at OSU for having a critical influence on his artistic development. During the final decades of his career, he was awarded several important public commissions, including “Brushstrokes in Flight” (1984), a monumental sculpture for Port Columbus International Airport.