Men of the Docks by George Bellows

Available for over a year

Cathy FitzGerald invites you to discover new details in old masterpieces, using your phone, tablet or computer. Episode two takes us to the Brooklyn docks in New York on an icy day in 1912. That's the setting for George Bellows' Men of the Docks, an extraordinary masterpiece from the collection of The National Gallery, London. The picture shows longshoremen waiting for work in the steely shadow of a cargo ship. Get up close and see how Bellows creates his cold and misty world - working quickly and fearlessly and using brushes, knives, and even his fingers, to manipulate the paint. Cathy FitzGerald hears why the artist wanted his masterpiece on display to greet the arrival in New York of the greatest ship in the world - The Titanic. Interviewees: Chris Riopelle, Melissa Wolfe, Rob Snyder, James Heard Producer and Presenter: Cathy FitzGerald A White Stiletto production for BBC Radio 4 George Bellows, Men of the Docks (c) The National Gallery, London. Bought with a grant from the American Friends of the National Gallery, made possible by Sir Paul Getty's fund, and by a donation from Mark Getty KBE, 2014.