George Tooker
1920–2011
Introduction
George Clair Tooker, Jr. (August 5, 1920 – March 27, 2011) was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with Magic realism, Social realism, Photorealism, and Surrealism. His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, but the images use flat tones, an ambiguous perspective, and alarming juxtapositions to suggest an imagined or dreamed reality. He did not agree with the association of his work with Magic realism or Surrealism, as he said, "I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy." In 1968, he was elected to the National Academy of Design and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Tooker was one of nine recipients of the National Medal of Arts in 2007.
Wikidata identifier
Q938221
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed October 25, 2024.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, lithographer, painter
ULAN identifier
500017656
Names
George Tooker, George Clair Jr. Tooker
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed October 25, 2024.