George Tooker American, 1920-2011
53.3 x 35.6 cm
George Tooker purchased a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights in 1953, and Jukebox portrays the local dance hall setting where Italian and Hispanic immigrants socialized in the neighborhood. Described by art historian Thomas Garver in his 2002 monograph of the artist's work as “one of Tooker’s most successful pictures,” this intimately scaled scene portrays the surreal subject for which he is best-known. In contrast to the romanticized view of American culture evoked by the Regionalist painters of the time, Tooker focuses on underlying social issues at play. The individual’s sense of alienation can be seen in the vacant gaze of the women despite the swags of festive streamers and colorful glow of the jukebox. The seated figure’s face appears mask-like, hovering above her body. They are at a dance but not dancing. Jukebox was owned by Lincoln Kirstein, Tooker’s most important patron and supporter.
Provenance
The artist;Lincoln Kirstein, New York, by 1966; to
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Verner Reed, Greenwich, Connecticut (as a gift);
[Marisa Del Re Gallery, Inc., New York]; to
George Wein, New York; to
The George and Joyce Wein Foundation, New York, 1986; to
[Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York];
[Meconi + Schoelkopf, New York]; to
Private collection, 2007 until the present
Exhibitions
Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, George Tooker, August 5-September 5, 1967, no. 9, illus.Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, Surreal Visions: The Early Years of Cadmus, French and Tooker, February 28-May 5, 1990, illus. on brochure cover
Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York, Tooker's Women, 1946-1992, October 22-December 5, 1992
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, Body Beware, May 17-July 27, 2007, illus. on announcement cover
National Academy Museum, New York; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, George Tooker: A Retrospective, October 2, 2008-September 6, 2009
Literature
P.T., "George Tooker's," ARTnews, December 1954, p. 56Current Biography Yearbook, New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1958, p. 38
Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker: Paintings 1947-1973, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1974, p. 7
Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, New York: Pomegranate Art Books, 1985, reprinted 1992, p. 51, illus. in color p. 52
Hildegard Kron, Penthouse Magazine, October 1988, illus.
Theodore F. Wolff, "Artists of the Enigmatic: Cadmus, French, and Tooker imbued ordinary scenes with mystery, forboding," Christian Science Monitor, April 13, 1990, p. 11, illus.
Robert Cozzolino, Marshall N. Price, and M. Melissa Wolfe, George Tooker, London: Merrell in association with Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, 2008, p. 126, illus. p. 127
Edward Sozanski, "Art: Beautiful work, long neglected, is given its due," The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 15, 2009, www.inquirer.com/entertainment/art-beautiful-work-long-neglected-is-given-its-due-20090215.html, illus.
Victoria Skelly, "George Tooker Retrospective at Pennsylvania Academy," Broad Street Review, February 17, 2009, www.broadstreetreview.com/articles/george-tooker-retrospective-at-pennsylvania-academy-2nd-review
Roberta Fallon, "Weekly Update: George Tooker’s humanist works at PAFA," artblog, March 17, 2009, www.theartblog.org/2009/03/weekly-update-george-tookers-humanist-works-at-pafa/
Jonathan Kantrowitz, "George Tooker: A Retrospective," Art History News, July 9, 20212, http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2012/07/george-tooker-retrospective.html
