George Clair Tooker, Jr. ^^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}

1920 - 2011  (90 years)

• Name	George Clair Tooker
  Suffix	Jr. ^
  Born	5 Aug 1920	Brooklyn, Kings, NY   [1, 6]
  Gender	Male
  Living	Bef 1925	Brooklyn Heights, Kings, NY   [1, 6]
  Living	Between 1925 and 1943	Bellport, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY   [6]
  	After 1943, he likely took up residences in New York City while he attended school.
  Education	Between 1927 and 1929	Brookhaven, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY   [4]
  	received painting lessions from Malcolm Fraser (see)
  	Malcolm Fraser was a family friend, a painter living Brookhaven Hamlet adjacent to Bellport. "Tooker remembers that Fraser tended to "finish" his students' paintings to insure that they would be favorably received, yet at an early age Tooker learned the rudiments of academic composition and paint handling: (Garver)
  Census	1930	Bellport, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY   [7]
  	He was living with his parents.
  Education	1942	Boston (Harvard College), Suffolk, MA   [1, 4, 6, 8, 9]
  	Before attending Harvard, he attended Bellport High School, Bellport, NY, and Phillips Academy in Andover, MA., receiving his diploma on 17 June 1938. Tooker attended high school in Bellport (see note below), but because his parents were concerned that their son was not receiving a solid academic education there, he spent his last two years at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.  Tooker disliked the school intensely.  It was then rather straight-laced. Most of the students were oriented toward business and finance and he recalls that the school "trained them to hide their emotions."  His only academic interest was English, but he spent a good deal of time in the school's art studio making landscape drawings and watercolors.  The Phillips Academy experience also introduced him to the other side of American urban life, as he saw the effects of the Depression on the mill towns to the north of Andover.  Tooker remembers that he was deeply angry at the social and economic imbalance that put people out of work, but that at the same time he enjoyed the dances and parties hosted by those whom the system continued to support so well.  He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1938 and attended Harvard College, majoring in English Literature.  He spent much of his spare time at the Fogg Art Museum, and in Cambridge and the towns surrounding Boston making watercolor sketches of landscapes and buildings.  At Harvard he became involved in several radical organizations but dropped them because he found their answers to social and economic problems too doctrinaire and ultimately "boring."  He did, however, begin to sense the uses of art as a tool of social expression and social change.  He was especially interested in the political and emotional content of Mexican painters, particularly David Alfred Sequeiros and José Clemente Orozco. Tooker graduated from Harvard in 1942.  (Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, 1992) [* From 1924 to 1935, high school classes were discontinued in Bellport, and Bellport students were transported to the Patchogue High School, some five miles to the west. Bellport high school classes were resumed in 1935, probably starting with the Fall term. This is likely when George Tooker was enrolled at Phillips Academy.]
  Military	1942  [1, 4, 6]
  	U.S. Mariine Corps.
  	Immediately after graduating from college, Tooker entered the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, but an old stomach ailment developed into a serious problem and he was discharged after a few months.
  Education	1943	New York (Art Students League), New York, NY   [1, 4, 6]
  	He had wanted to study art for some time and now his parents supported him in doing so.  In the spring of 1943 he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York, which he attended for two years, study with Reginald Marsh, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Harry Sternberg. Tooker met the painter Paul Cadmus in 1944 and later, through Cadmus, met Jared and Margaret French.  With Cadmus's guidance Tooker began to paint in the traditional Renaissance tempera technique that marks his mature style. (Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, 1992)
  Companion	Aft 1943  [4, 6, 10]
  	Paul Cadmus
  	"During this time Mr. Tooker met the magic realist painter Paul Cadmus (1904-99), who introduced him to egg tempera. They became lovers and lifelong friends, and for a while they formed a difficult, complicated relationship with the painter Jared French and French’s wife, Margaret Hoening. Mr. Cadmus also brought Mr. Tooker into the creative gay group circling around the arts impresario Lincoln Kirstein, who persuaded the Museum of Modern Art curator Dorothy C. Miller to include Mr. Tooker in her 1946 exhibition '14 Americans.'" (New York Times, 9 October 2008)
  Living	Between 1945 and 1950	Greenwich Village, New York, New York, NY   [4, 6]
  	"In 1945 with a stipend of $90 a month from his family, Tooker moved to a cold-water flat on Bleecker Street in New York's Greenwich Village (rent $17 per month) where he was to live for five years.'
  Companion	Between 1949 and 1973  [4, 6, 10]
  	William Christopher
  	He was a painter and cabinetmaker. William Christopher was born1923 and died 1973.
  Living	Between 1950 and 1953	Chelsea, New York, New York, NY   [4]
  	"In 1950 Tooker and Christopher moved to an illegal loft on West Eighteenth Street, where they made custom furniture to support themselves." (Garver)
  Living	Between 1953 and 1960	Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, Kings, NY   [4, 11]
  	In 1953 George Tooker and William Christopher bought and renovated a brownstone at 77 State Street in Brooklyn Heights. They resided there until a short time after George's mother died in 1960, at which time they removed to Hartland, Vermont.
  Living	Aft 1959/60	Hartland, Windsor, VT   [1, 6, 10]
  	"In the late 1950s, inspired by the [Jared and Margaret] French's summer place in eastern Vermont, Tooker and Christopher acquired land north of Hartland and built a weekend house, which was subsequently expanded several times. They moved to Vermont permanently in 1960 and sold the house in Brooklyn Heights."
  Living	Aft 1968	Malaga, Spain   [4]
  	The residence was a winter home. "In 1968, William Christopher's health had deteriorated to the point where the Vermont winters were too rigorous, and they sought a location in Europe where they could spend the winter season.  They finally settled in Malaga, Spain, on the Mediterranean coast, and Tooker maintained the apartment there until 1990."  (Garver) Christopher died in Spain in 1973, and Tooker spent most of 1974 in Spain settling Christopher's estate.
  Misc	1974	San Francisco, San Francisco, CA   [4]
  	His first major museum survey was launched
  	"... the first major museum survey exhibition of Tooker's work was organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francicco at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. The exhibition subsequently traveled to the Museum of Contempory Art, Chicago; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art." (Garver)
  Residence	Between 1981 and 1995	Brookhaven, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY   [12, 13]
  	The Champlain/Tooker Cottage, sometime known as the "Pond Cottage" on Beaver Dam Road
  	In 1981, George Tooker purchased from Geoffrey Fraser Champlain this cottage identified as Br29.1-S in the inventory of Brookhaven/South Haven Historical Structures. In 1994 he sold it to the Post Morrow Foundation. "Tooker found that the change experienced by the locale since he was young, and the passing of the people he associated with the area, were difficult for him; he explained, 'when I was out there, I just remembered the past. ... And that's why I didn't stay. I sold the house because I was living in the past when I was down there. And I thought, in Vermont I live in the present.'" (Tooker: Wolf)
  Misc	2007  [14]
  	received the National Medal of Arts honorl from President George W. Bush
  	The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who "...are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States." The recepients are selected by the National Endowment for the Arts.
  Occupation	painter  [1]
  	He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1968 and he is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He was considered a member of the movement sometimes called "magic realism" -- an American style of art with surrealist overtones. The art is anchored in everyday reality, but has overtones of fantasy or wonder. The term was later also applied to the literary works of authors such as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez. Tooker is said not to have liked the label. Artists most commonly associated with the style are Paul Cadmus, Ivan Albright, Philip Evergood, and George Tooker. Andrew Wyeth is sometimes associated with this group, due to the vaguely mysterious nature of his landscapes and portraits.
  Religion	raised an Episcopalian, and later, in 1976 became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church  [1, 4]
  	'In 1976 Tooker became a Roman Catholic and a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Windsor, Vermont. In late 1977 the church burned and in 1979 while it was undergoing reconstruction, Tooker agreed to create a major painting for it. That painting, The Seven Sacraments, was dedicated in January 1981." (Garver)
  Died	27 Mar 2011	Hartland, Windsor, VT   [15]
  Notes	The following brief biography is from the website Tigertail Virtual Museum (24 Nov 2008): Born and raised until age seven in Brooklyn, New York and then in Bellport, Long Island in upper middle class surroundings. His mother is of Cuban/Spanish extraction; his father is Anglo-American. The family is a church going Episcopalian family. In his early teens George takes art lessons from the painter Malcolm Frazier, a friend of his mother, and then he attends Phillips Academy, a prep school, in Andover, Mass. in preparation for college. He doesn't really want to go to college -- he wants to go to art school, but the family insists on a college education. He goes to Harvard University where he studies English Literature, but spends much of his time doing what he wants to do: painting with his roommate, Francis Faust. At the beginning of the Second World War his family expects him to enlist in the services, so he does. During boot camp he is found to be medically unfit and discharged with ulcerative colitis. He is subsequently drafted, and again he is found medically unqualified. During the war he studies at the Art Students League in New York City, and in 1943 with Reginald Marsh. He also studies with Kenneth Hayes Miller and Harry Sternberg. Tooker stops attending church when he begins art school. However religion remains a major influence on his art. In 1946, he becomes both the student and a close friend of Paul Cadmus. Cadmus encourages Tooker to work with tempera rather than the transparent wash technique taught by Marsh. Tooker adopts a method of using egg yolk thickened slightly with water and then adding powdered pigment, a medium that is quick drying, tedious to apply, and hard to change once applied. In 1949 he travels for several months in France and Italy with Paul Cadmus looking at art. In the early 50s he moves to New York; there Tooker finds his life partner, another artist -- William Christopher (1924-1974). Bill and George share a loft in Chelsea; in 1953 after a fire in an adjoining lumber yard, they move to Brooklyn Heights and renovate a brownstone. They support themselves by making and selling furniture. In 1951 George has his first one-man exhibition at the Edwin Hewitt Gallery in New York . In 1960, George and his life partner, Bill Christopher, move to Vermont. They buy a barn in White River Junction and move it to their home site in Hartland. They cut the Barn down quite a bit and then add on additional rooms. In the 60s Bill teaches in the fine arts department of Dartmouth University. George teaches at the Art Students League in New York. Both come to Vermont on weekends. They commute mostly by rail. In 1968 they decide to live half a year in Malaga, Spain and half a year in Vermont. Bill finds the winters in Vermont difficult. So he stops teaching at Dartmouth and they both go to Spain for the winters. They plan to move there permanently. In 1973 Bill Christopher dies in Spain. George returns to the Vermont house. In succeeding years he occasionally visits their place in Spain. But eventually, he gives up going to Spain at all. His paintings are now focused more on introspection and have lost much of the sexual tension of his work in the forties and the social commentary of his work in the fifties. The years after Bill's death he finds difficult and leave him in emotional turmoil. He response he turns, in part, to the Catholic church, and he converts from Episcopalian to Roman Catholic. He paints pictures for the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Windsor, Vermont. These include a series for the stations of the cross and an altarpiece . George Tooker still lives and works in rural Vermont.
  Person ID	I9983	Brookhaven & South Haven Hamlets
  Last Modified	2 Apr 2011

  
  

  Father	George Clair Tooker, Sr. <>,   b. 19 Sep 1887, Brooklyn, Kings, NY ,   d. 15 Aug 1951, Port Jefferson (Mather Hospital), Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY  (Age 63 years)
  Mother	Angela Montejo Roura, >,   b. 21 Dec 1892, Brooklyn, Kings, NY ,   d. 3 Jan 1960, Brooklyn, Kings, NY  (Age 67 years)
  Married	Abt 1920  [7]
  	George was 32 when he married; Angela was 26.
  Photos » Slide Show		George A., Sr., and Angela Roura Tooker
  		Tooker Family House, Bellport, NY .. located at about 81 South Howells Point Road (opposite 80 S. Howells Pt. Rd.) The house today (November 2008) is behind a tall unkempt hedge and in fair-poor repair. The exterior is little changed, except that the front entrance has been removed. The three children on the front stoop likely include George, Jr. and Mary.
  		Tooker Family home, Bellport, NY. December 2008 .. the house is at about 81 South Howells Point Rd., opposite 80 S. Howells Point Rd.
  Family ID	F3649	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Christopher,   d. 1973
  Family ID	F5184	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		George Tooker Self-Portrait, egg tempera on gesso panel, 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm) diameter
  		George C. Tooker Self portrait
  		George C. Tooker .. receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush in 2007. The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who, in his judgment, "...are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States."
  		George Tooker about 1948 .. photograph by George Platt Lynes

  
  

  Documents		George Claire Tooker Collection at the Tigertail Virtual Museum
  		William Christopher's journal describing the civil rights marches in Alabama. 1965 "In March 1965, painter William Christopher (1924-1973) and his partner George Tooker, responded to Dr. Martin Luther King's appeal for support in the Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama march for voting rights. On March 14, 1965, one week after "Bloody Sunday," when peaceful black protesters in Selma, on their way to Montgomery, were beaten back by Alabama state troopers, Christopher, Tooker, and John Scotford, Jr., who taught with Christopher in the art department at Dartmouth College, arrived in Montgomery as official representatives of the all-white Dartmouth branch of the NAACP. Christopher's diary of his time in Alabama allows readers to experience a pivotal point in the American civil rights movement." (Smithsonian Archives of American Art)
  		William Christopher and George Tooker meeting Martin Luther King Jr., Sept. 14, 1964 "Transcribed from the accompanying note: This Photograph was taken Sept. 14, 1964 by Mary Herrick and a friend. Occasion - Dr. King had asked to meet me. Upon his presentation of his papers to Boston University along with some of the paintings I had done in his honor- Dr. King, Wm Christopher, Dr. De Wolfe, Joan Peterson, George Tooker behind Dr. King and Mary Herrick. Wm Christopher, Sept. 19, 1964." (Smithsonian Archives of American Art)
  		George Tooker by Thomas H. Garver ... This is a Google Books preview of Garver's book. As such, pages are missing. Even so, the color reproductions 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. For more than forty-five years Tooker has painted haunting psychological landscapes that explore the human condition of modern society, all characterized by mystery, magic, ambiguity, symbolism, classical form, and masterful technique. The absorbing images both enchant and repel us in their forceful depiction of the complexities of our age while clearly demonstrating the artist's love of composition and human form.
  		George Tooker Cottage in Brookhaven Hamlet, NY .. between 1981 and 1995, George Tooker owned a small cottage adjacent to Beaver Dam Creek in Brookhaven Hamlet. It is said that he rarely resided there. "Tooker found that the change experienced by the locale since he was young, and the passing of the people he associated with the area, were difficult for him; he explained, 'when I was out there, I just remembered the past. ... And that's why I didn't stay. I sold the house because I was living in the past when I was down there. And I thought, in Vermont I live in the present.'" (Tooker: Wolf) This document is the Brookhaven/South Haven Historic Site datasheet on this property.
  		George Tooker YouTube video .. this document is part 1 of 3 of a YouTube videos on the works of George Tooker produced by Columbus Museum. Links are provided to the continuation links
  		George Tooker, Painter Capturing Modern Anxieties, Dies at 90 .. his obituary on the NY Times web site. Print version was more comprehensive.
  		The Art Of Anxiety: Painter George Tooker Dies At 90 .. National Public Radio

  
  

• Sources

  [S492] Wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tooker. [S560] Tigertail Virtual Museum, http://www.tigtail.org/TIG/S_View/TVM/B/NAmerican/b.%20post%20WW%20II/tooker-george/tooker-1.html. [S542] New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/arts/design/10took.html. [S564] Garver: George Tooker, p. 159. [S566] American Art: George Tooker. [S569] George Tooker: George Cozzolino et al, p. 20. ff. [S129] 1930 Census, Census Place: Bellport, Suffolk, New York; Roll: 1650; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 19; Image: 13.0. [S542] New York Times, 18 June 1938, p. 13. [S39] Bigelow, p. 24. [S542] New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/arts/design/10took.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1. [S542] New York Times, 9 May 1953, p. 28. George C. Tooker, Jr. and William R. Christopher have purchased the building at 77 State Street, and plan to convert it into a two-family house for occupancy. The Cruikshank Company was the broker and the Title Guarantee and Trust Company insured the title. [S106] Post-Morrow: Historical Collection, Deeds on file. [S569] George Tooker: George Cozzolino et al, p. 35. [S565] National Endowment for the Arts, http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html. [S542] New York Times, 29 Mar 2011.