George Tooker

George Tooker, “The Waiting Room”, 1959, Egg Tempera on Wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum

George Tooker grew frustrated with the bureaucracy while trying to obtain building permits for a house he bought in New York. He painted several images that show “faceless” government workers and run-down people getting nowhere. The clinical interior of “The Waiting Room” evokes the conformity of the 1950s and emphasizes the pale, drawn expressions on the figures.

The people stand in numbered boxes, evoking ideas of standardization that force people into predefined categories. The man on the left appears to be in charge of the “sorting,” creating a sinister view of government scrutiny.

“The Waiting Room is a kind of purgatory—people just waiting—waiting to wait. It is not living. It is a matter of waiting—not being one’s self. Not enjoying life, not being happy, waiting, always waiting for something that might be better—which never comes. Why can’t they just enjoy the moment?” -George Tooker

George Tooker

George Tooker, “Voice”, Lithograph on Rives Gray Paper, 1977, 11 x 9 ¾ Inches, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

The “Voice” by George Tooker shows two men on either side of a wall or door. While the viewer is privy to their close proximity to one another they seem unsure about one another’s existence. The man on the left has placed his head against the barrier as if listening for movement or communication. On the right, a second man presses his open mouth to the other side but seems silent and frozen in fear. Tooker cropped the image closely so that we focus on the relationship between the two men as they breath quietly and await contact. A delicate tension is established between the two figures as they wait.

This focus on the futility of human communication, one of Tooker’s most powerful commentaries, was originally done by him in a series of paintings entitled “Voice I” (painted in 1963, now in a private collection) and “Voice II” (done in egg tempera in 1972 and now in the National Academy Museum and School).

George Tooker

Paintings by George Tooker

George Clair Tooker, Jr. was an American figurative painter whose works are associated with the Magic Realism and Social Realism movements. Working with the then-revitalized tradition of egg tempera, Tooker addressed issues of modern-day alienation with subtly eerie and often visually literal depictions of social withdrawal and isolation. He was one of nine recipients of the National Medal of Arts in 2007.

Images from Top to Bottom;

George Tooker, “The Subway”, 1950, Egg Tempera on Composition Board, 46 x 92 cm, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

George Tooker, “Divers”, 1962, Egg Tempera on Gessoed Panel, 30 x 46 cm, Private Collection

George Tooker, “Lunch”, 1964, Egg Tempera on Gessoed Panel, 50.8 x 66 cm, Columbus Museum of Art

George Tooker, “Window II”, 1956, Egg Tempera on Panel, 61 x 46 cm, Collection of James and Barbara Palmer