Cecil C. Bell

Born in Seattle, Washington, Cecil Crosley Bell moved to New York in 1930 to study at the Art Students League, and beginning in 1934 enjoyed the mentorship of John Sloan. Like many of his contemporaries, Bell found inspiration on the streets of New York and painted vibrant crowds in parks, at festivals, and on the city’s subways and ferries. The Whitney Museum of American Art recognized the importance of Bell in 1936 by purchasing Ice Skaters, Central Park; they added a second work to their collection in 1945, Rainy Day, Lower Manhattan. In 1942 he settled in Staten Island where he kept a studio overlooking New York Harbor. Bell exhibited regularly at venues such as The Art Institute of Chicago, National Academy of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1974 the Tacoma Art Museum held a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work.