George Tooker

About this book

Mystery, magic, ambiguity, symbolism, classical form, and masterful technique characterize the art of George Tooker. For over forty-five years, Tooker has painted haunting psychological landscapes that explore the human condition of modern society with the traditional medium of egg tempera, employing the exacting detail and representational techniques of Renaissance masters. The absorbing images both enchant and disquiet us in their forceful depiction of the complexities of our age while clearly demonstrating the artist's love of composition and human form. All his most famous and most frequently reproduced "public" paintings are here: The Subway, Government Bureau, The Waiting Room, Landscape with Figures, Corporate Decision, and the recent Terminal. These images of contemporary men and women within almost allegorical tableaux powerfully portray the inability to communicate in times of dehumanizing technological advances, reflecting the conflict between fear and terror and love and beauty in an anonymous bureaucracy from which there is apparently no exit. The "private" paintings - Lovers, Dreamers, Sleepers, Mirrors, and Windows - convey a profound sense of humanism while more romantically and lyrically evoking the same themes of conflict. Here and throughout Tooker's work the commonplace is imbued with a tone of quiet mystery that allows it to become strange and beautiful, touching both our spiritual and sensual lives. This expanded edition of the 1985 monograph now contains over 145 paintings, including all work completed since 1985, bringing up to date the entire range of Tooker's important and fascinating work. Over 85 excellent color reproductions beautifully capture the luminous quality of the artist's work in egg tempera, and his meticulous painting technique is described in detail through an intimate look into Tooker's studio. A catalogue raisonne, concise biography, selected bibliography, and lists of public collections, exhibitions, and awards provide the only complete reference source to Tooker's paintings and career.