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