George
Tooker
George Tooker's enigmatic paintings capture the alienation and disillusionment of mid 20th century America, earning him a place among the most significant figurative artists of his time. If you're looking for George Tooker original prints and editions for sale or would like to sell, request a complimentary valuation and browse our network's most in-demand works.
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Biography
George Clair Tooker Jr. was born on 5 August 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in Bellport, Long Island, Tooker developed an early interest in art, taking painting lessons from a family friend as a child. After graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, he pursued English Literature at Harvard University, completing his degree in 1942.
Initially, Tooker joined the Marine Corps but was discharged due to illness. This experience led him to reassess his career path, and in 1943, he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City. Here, he studied under Reginald Marsh, whose influence would shape Tooker's early artistic development.
Tooker's work gained recognition in the post-war era, aligning with the Magic Realist movement. His paintings, characterised by their eerie stillness and meticulously rendered figures, explored themes of alienation, bureaucracy, and the loss of individuality in modern society.
Tooker's artistic breakthrough came in the late 1940s and early 1950s with works like The Subway (1950), now in the Whitney Museum of American Art. This painting, with its claustrophobic atmosphere and isolated figures, exemplifies Tooker's ability to capture the existential atmosphere of the post war period.
Throughout his career, Tooker remained committed to the medium of egg tempera, a technique he learned from Paul Cadmus. This painstaking process contributed to the distinctive luminosity and flat, timeless quality of his paintings.
Tooker's work addressed social and political issues. His 1956 painting Government Bureau, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, critiques the dehumanising effects of bureaucracy with its faceless clerks and bewildered citizens. Similarly, The Waiting Room (1959) in the Smithsonian American Art Museum explores themes of conformity and alienation in public spaces.
Despite his association with Social Realism and Magic Realism, Tooker resisted labels. His paintings, while rooted in recognisable settings, often evoke a sense of timelessness and liminality that speaks to the universal aspects of the human condition.