George Tooker was an American artist known for his paintings that captured social realism. The majority of his paintings were of people living in poverty and struggles in society. His paintings were somewhat mythical and poetic with a sense of haunting and apprehension.
Perhaps a good example of a painting that expressed that sense of dread and unease is "Government Bureau" where people wait to speak with pale looking bureaucrats behind frosted-glass partitions. Or the haunting image in "Landscape With Figures" where masklike faces poke out from individual compartment boxes.
The English Lit graduate from Harvard, received the 2007 National Medal of Arts for “his paintings that combine realism and symbolism, transforming scenes of American life into iconic images. His metaphysical works reveal man’s journey from despair to triumph.”
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Government Bureau (1956) via Weimar |
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Landscape With Figures (1965-66) via Dreamers Rise |
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The Subway (1950) via Weimar |
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Guitar (1957) via Bajo el Signo de Libra |
Sources: http://www.nea.gov/news/news07/medals/Tooker.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/arts/design/george-tooker-painter-capturing-modern-anxieties-dies-at-90.html; http://weimarart.blogspot.com/2010/11/george-tooker.html; http://bajoelsignodelibra.blogspot.com/; http://weimarart.blogspot.com/2010/11/george-tooker.html; http://dreamersrise.blogspot.com/; http://www.progressiveliving.org/artists/tooker/george_tooker.htm
Fascinating artist!
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