Sniped from War Series

George Bellows

1918 · Lithograph · Drawings and Prints

Sniped is a poignant image of soldiers in a trench encircling a fallen comrade. Bellows does not reveal whether the man has been wounded or killed by the unseen sniper, focusing instead on the group of soldiers and the omnipresent sense of death. The constant threat of danger is reinforced by the faint image of the soldier poised with his gun on the upper right, separated from the others by position and tone. Although he tried to enlist, Bellows did not see combat in Europe; his images are based on newspaper accounts and other published reports, photographs, illustrations, and soldiers’ stories. Sniped was published in the July 13, 1918, issue of Collier’s with a story on combat entitled "Something" by Donal Hamilton Haines.

Artist

George Bellows

Date

1918

Medium

Lithograph

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bell Fund, 1973