George Tooker (b.1920) was born and raised until age seven in Brooklyn, New York and then in Belleport, Long Island in genteel upper class surroundings, he became a figure painter whose work reflects both his privileged circumstances and understanding of those less comfortable. His subjects, often of mixed sexual and racial features, are often obscured by heavy clothing and appear sagging and shapeless, trapped within their own dull worlds.
Some critics have described his style as "magic realism," but he was not interested in the illusionary effects that many of the painters of that style espouse. He has regarded himself as more of a reporter or observer of society than an interpreter.
He took art lessons from Barbizon style painter, Malcolm Frazier, a friend of his mother and then attended Phillips Academy, a prep school, in Andover, Massachusetts where he had his first experience with lower classes because of his visits to the nearby textile community of Lawrence and Lowell.
He went to Harvard University where he studied English Literature but spent much time at the Fogg Art Museum. He was also active in socialist conscious organizations and distributed literature for radical political groups. In 1942, he graduated from Harvard and then entered the Marine Corps but was discharged due to a physical problem.
He studied at the Art Students League in New York City, beginning 1943 with Reginald Marsh. He also studied with Kenneth Hayes Miller and Harry Sternberg and in 1946, began spending time with Paul Cadmus as friend and pupil. Cadmus encouraged Tooker to work with tempera rather than the transparent wash technique taught by Marsh.
Tooker subsequently adopted a method of using egg yolk thickened slightly with water and then adding powdered pigment, a medium that was quick drying, tedious to apply, and hard to change once applied.
Fascinated by geometric design and symmetry, he works slowly, completely about two paintings a year because he spends much time searching for the underlying idea.
From 1965 to 1968, he taught at the Art Students League but has lived the later part of his life between Hartland, Vermont and Malaga, Spain. His first one-man exhibition was at the Edwin Hewitt Gallery in New York in 1951.
The must-have for all
Tooker fans
[ G e o r g e T o o k e r G a l l e r y ]
personal recommendation:
George Tooker (Book)
by Thomas H. Garver
This is the book I stumbled across years ago and fell in love with the poetic, magical realism of George Tooker. Back then, here in the UK it was difficult to get anything on Tooker so this book was like finding the Holy Grail.
I still thumb through my now old, tatty copy and always find something to marvel at. The figures, the faces, art found in everyday life ... the world of Tooker is all here in this book. Well almost all as there are 150 paintings reproduced and for someone who works as slowly as George that is a substantial part of his oeuvre. But if you marvel at the detail you realise why he works so slowly - it's just incredible to behold.
I am envious of Americans who can pop into a museum and see one of his works in the flesh anytime they like. Here in the UK this book has to suffice.
It's quite a big size (11 x 10 inches) so the reproductions still have some of the power of the originals.
available: amazon.com
couple of the prints from the gallery are available @ amazon.com
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