Images © Estate of George Tooker

01.12.11: Gallery

To really appreciate and marvel at George Tooker's world and his work you really have to see the book George Tooker (Book)
by Thomas H. Garver (pictured right).

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. It contains over 150 paintings.

Available: amazon.com

01.12.11: MORE

I don't think it would be exaggerating to say that Tooker belongs in terms of importance to American art in the same category as Hopper or Wyeth. In particularly, his haunting vision of alienation and anonymity of urban life is as visionary as Hoper at his finest. Of course working in egg tempera helped with the luminous quality but required amazingly meticulous application. Below are examples of the magical realism of George Tooker.

george tooker autographs, lithographs and more @ ebay.com (direct link to signed items) - just checked and a bigger selection than I have seen anywhere else

Advertise on this page :: April 14 - just $1.00 per week!

01.12.11: CREDITS

Credit: many of these images are from the DC Moore Gallery. Their website and more info. on the artist can be viewed here

Teller, 1967

George Tooker’s painting “Teller” (1967) depicts identical bank clerks sitting listlessly behind steel-barred counters, conveying a sense of isolation and monotony. This work is a striking example of Tooker’s ability to blend realism with a dreamlike quality, capturing the alienation of modern life. p.c. Artist's Estate

Landscape with Figures, 1965-66

Lunch, 1964

Government Bureau, 1956

Egg tempera on wood; 19 5/8 x 29 5/8 in. (49.8 x 75.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. George A. Hearn Fund, 1956. c. Estate of George Tooker

“Government Bureau” is a haunting depiction of bureaucratic alienation. The painting shows a cold, stark office filled with anonymous figures, highlighting the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracy. The repetitive grid of cubicles and the eerie, expressionless faces of the workers create a sense of claustrophobia and despair