Columbus native George Bellows attended The Ohio State University and turned down a career in baseball with the Cincinnati Reds in order to pursue one in art. It was a wise choice, for he quickly became the most acclaimed American artist of his generation. Bellows earned renown for painting New York City subjects in a very vigorous manner, an approach to art that was quite unusual in his day. A superb example of his talents is Blue Snow, The Battery, which presents the urban park blanketed by fresh snow. The artist's energetic application of bright white and brilliant blue paints, although much admired today, prompted one critic in 1910 to refer insultingly to the painting as "Assault and Battery." The Columbus Museum of Art houses the largest and most important collection of paintings by Bellows.