George Bellows (American, 1882–1925). Cliff Dwellers. 1913. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA. Digital Image © 2012 Museum Associates / LACMA. Licensed by Art Resource, NY.

A painter of the American realist school, Bellows captures the energy and activity of New York City streets in the early 20th century. Mothers breastfeed, scold, hover, entreat; men avoid the heat of their rooms by sleeping with knees flexed on narrow fire escapes. Women crane their necks to share news, strain to reach clotheslines strung between buildings; boys squat and tumble playing leapfrog and sling their legs over railings. A trolley car appears to be pulling the crowd through a gap in the tenement walls—as though toward a bright, tough, bustling future.