George Tooker

Self Portrait, 1996

George Tooker was talented from a young age and was privileged enough to be able to start taking art lessons from a famous artist,  Malcolm Fraser, at the age of 7. He was born on Long Island in 1920. Twenty two years later he had graduated from Harvard with a graduate degree in English literature. His studies into the renaissance and medieval painting seems to have deeply influenced his artwork. He served for a short period of time in the Marines and when he came home after an injury, he delved back into the world of art, meeting many people who would be influential in the path of the rest of his life. Particularly, Jared and Margaret French and Paul Cadmus who mentored him and helped him to find his style that he was known for, which can be termed as magic realism (he never really liked this term). He had other friends who encouraged him to travel. He spent 6 months traveling Europe, visiting museums, historical sites, and churches. Once again, these friends and these places were super influential in his artwork subject matter. Tooker and his partner, William, lived in a brownstone in Brooklyn that faced buildings that inspired many of his paintings in the 50's. In the end of the 50's they moved to a farm in Vermont, but Tooker often came back to New York to teach art classes. He was also involved heavily in the Civil Rights movement. As they got older, he and his partner got a home in Spain. When his partner died in 1974, Tooker turned to Catholicism and became deeply religious. His artwork took a turn to being very religious, specifically Catholic, in nature. Despite most of his life being influenced by friends and family, the latter part of his life he kept to himself, making art and doing shows. He died in April of 2011.

Woman With Oranges, 1977