ýeorge puks - cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org
TRANSCRIPT
1923
`ketrospective tx1 i6itioyl ý
of
q11 tings by
ýeorge Puks <m ýicw at the
C: H. 7: rtus/taur 4rt galleries
680 Fifib Avenue, New York
january 5t1i to 27th, 1923
GEORGE L1'KS By Gry 1'F: x h: 1)r Boºs
There are so nntlºy complications in the im-
print of a real character that a short record, as this one must be, must secnº at the outset to be
either inadvisable or unfair. Casually one
might designate George I. uks with the word
gusto. But one (0111(1 not let it go at that. It
would inunediately bccoºne necessary to explain, for au example, that this gusto was rather Tike
Rubens than like hlals, that it was seated ill the
heart of the m an as well as in his hands. In-
deed, the explanation would, of necessity, lead
into comparisons with a great many American
painters Who believe that. large gobs of paint
and great sweeps of enormous brushes are con-
clusive proofs of the existence of virility. Luks's
gusto is not, like this one, uurely a matter of
mannerism. His sludge hammer drives spikes that could be driven with no other implement. His style is an invention of necessity. The nºan is, if you could stand a word in the modern jargon, it c}yn. uno. His pictures are an over- flowing of the fullness of his own life. There
are three other words by which he could be,
again casually, depicted. These are sentiuºen- tal, sensuous and superstitious, ruin are danger-
ous, because misleading, to use in America. His
processes are the antithesis of the intellectual
ones of dry Puritans. His intelligence is in-
formed by his feeling. Armed with a little less
fluidity, a Latin virtue, one might place him
with such broad British heroes as Fielding and Sterne and Rowlandson. He is more mystic than any of these, and a richer and more subtle
colorist. But life gives hint a similar reaction,
and he is not more able, than they, to purse his
lips and mince his words. And his art which
appears to be an essentially masculine or manly
affair has all the instinctive force of a feminine
guess. The man will paint the decadent vicious-
ness of a character like the Duchess and the
virtue of a blonde young girl with equal under-
standing. He will go, like Dickens, from Bill
Sykes to Little Nell. Indeed, we may see him in
this exhibition lead from the delicacies of the "Little Milliner" to the beefy brutalities of the "Wrestlers. " He records the pathos as well as the joy in children. In his paint is all the hu-
manity of Gothic art. His wrestlers are not
conquering Greek gladiators. In this, perhaps, is the full story of his approach to life and art. He cannot play with intellectual abstractions. He will force the evidence of reality until it
is impossible for those of duller reactions to
miss it.
Mr. George Luks and the C. NV. Kraushaar
Art Galleries acknowledge with thanks their in-
debtedness to the following owners of Mr.
Luks's painting,, who have kindly loaned then
for this exhibition :
The Phillips Memorial Galleries
Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney -
Miss Julia E. Peck
\1r. and Mrs. Samuel 0. Buckner
Dr. and Mrs. A. H. L. Dohme
Dr. Thomas L. Bennett
Mr. John F. Braun
Mr. Edward Root
Mr. A. B. Gwathinev, Jr.
Mr. Arthur F. Egner
'1'iii: S1'1N: 1. H: 1L$
BL1'h: 1)i,: N'11. s JLAeCHiM. Ur FIN'TII riVh]SI'F7
Tx,. Oi. o lli, <"iir: ss
Metropolitan Jlanelrra of All
THE WRESTLERS
OTIS titiINNr: R AS COL. Rltll). \7- IN
GOI'iir: HONOR OF His FAMILY"
/ C F
ý
Bor WITH THE Gil'iTAR
SAND Ae"risT
I
()I. I) 1)0\IIXICA\
LITTLE MADONNA
1 Bi. rr; DEVILS Jkactiixc Ur FiFT11 AVE-
\L'E
2 OTIS SKINNER AS COLONEL BRID 1 IN "THE
HONOR OF His FAMILY"
Awarded the Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logall Medal. Art Institute of Chicago, 1920.
3 THE OLD DOMINICAN
4 SULKING Boy Loaned by the Phillip. Memorial Gallery
5 HOUSTON STREET
Awarded the Temple Gold . Medal, Pennsylvania Academy, 1918.
Loaned by Dr. Thomas L. Bennett
6 THE SARI ARTIST
A `\'AIF
Loaned bY Ali� Julia E. Peck
8 THE SPIELERS
Loaned bY 1Ir. A. B. (Irwathmcv, Jr.
9 TIIE GOOSE GIRL Loaned l) 'MrS. Harm Payne Whitney
10 OLl) BEGG. vß «'()MAN IN Moo-Nt. u: HT Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Sanrucl O.
Buckner
I
11 WOMAN IN BLACK RIDING HABIT Loaned by Dr. and JIr... A. R. L. DOlllne
12 GUIDES IN a STORM, 1JOSSIGxoL
Loaned by Air. ýToliii 1". Braun
1: 3 PAVLOR"A
14 CLOSING THE CAFE, PARIS
15 GROUP OF TEN SKETCHES, PARIS, 1902
Loaned by All.. Edward Hoot
16 BOY \\'ITII THE GUITAR
17 MADONNA
18 TtI K LITTLE MILLINER
19 ON THE DOCK
20 EAST SIDE AN', kIFS
21 OLD BEGGAR WOMAN (Water Color) Loaned by Mr. Arthur F. Ebner
22 Om) Bus DRIVER
2: 3 WHISKY BILL
24 TIIE' WRESTLERS
25 `ý O\L\\ WITH MACAWS
26 THE OLD COSMOPOLITAN CHESS CLUB
27 THE IATTI. E MADONNA
28 HO1. u)AY ON THE III'uSOy
29 HOI"\I) HOrsES, hit BRn)GE
: 30 130Y WITII TFrE `IOLI\
: 31 L01.1. YI'O1'
32 ('ZEC110-SJ. ON'. XK CHIEFTAIN
: 3: 3 BREAKER BOY
: 34 IN: TIIE CORNER
: 35 AN'ILll GEESE
36 OCTOBER Fl. ONVERS
3-1 TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER
: 3ti BASEHALI. FAN
: 39 RICHMOND ISLAND