George Luks Paintings
American, 1867-1933
George Luks was an American realist painter and comic illustrator, best known for his images of New York City and its inhabitants. Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Luks worked as a vaudeville performer before moving to Philadelphia to study art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He traveled through Europe, where he attended several art schools and developed a particular admiration for Diego Velázquez, Frans Hals, and Édouard Manet. Even before leaving for Europe, Luks was publishing comic illustrations in Puck and Truth, and upon his return in 1893 he accepted a job as a newspaper illustrator at the Philadelphia Press. In 1896, the Press sent him to Cuba as a special correspondent to cover the mounting tensions there. Working at the Press, Luks befriended Everett Shinn, William Glackens, John Sloan, and Robert Henri.
In 1896 Luks moved to New York City and began to work as an illustrator for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. He drew the comic strip Hogan's Alley after the strip’s originator Frederick Opper was lured away to William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. Though capable of picturesque urban scenes (like those that his friends Shinn and Glackens specialized in), Luks excelled as a broad comic artist, drawing single and multi-panel cartoons for newspapers and magazines, and working as a political cartoonist for the magazine Verdict. In the 1920s, Luks drew comic sketches for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
As a painter, Luks found inspiration in New York City, often depicting the streets and denizens of the Lower East Side, subjects which gained him little favor with art critics and jurors steeped in the genteel tradition. He painted thickly, often laying his paint on the canvas with a palette knife. In 1907, the rejection of one of his canvasses from a juried exhibition at the National Academy of Design spurred the organization of a protest exhibition the following year at Macbeth Gallery. This watershed exhibition would become known as the exhibition of "The Eight" for the eight painters who collaborated to put it together. Known for his big personality and love of liquor, Luks was a vocal proponent of American painting in the early 20th century.to
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Artist: George Luks
Forest Landscape
By George Luks
Located in New York, NY
Landscape by George Luks (1867-1933)
Oil on canvas
11 x 14 inches unframed (27.94 x 35.56 cm)
Signed lower left
Description:
George Luks was an American artist originally born in Pe...
Category
20th Century Ashcan School George Luks Paintings
Materials
Oil
"An Actor" George Luks, Ashcan Portrait, Interior Scene of Seated Actor
By George Luks
Located in New York, NY
George Luks
An Actor
Signed lower left
Oil on canvas
18 x 24 inches
Provenance
Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, 1985
Manoogian Collection, Michigan
Artist George Luks was one of a group...
Category
Early 20th Century American Realist George Luks Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Bread and Jam" George Luks, Ashcan Painting, Portrait of Child
By George Luks
Located in New York, NY
George Luks
Bread and Jam, circa 1920-1925
Oil on canvas
16 x 13 inches
Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1866, George Luks attended the school of the Pennsylvania Academy of ...
Category
1920s American Realist George Luks Paintings
Materials
Oil
Industrial Landscape
By George Luks
Located in Miami, FL
Quick and confident brush strokes describe the gritty forms of perhaps steam engines or railroad yards. Luks bravura style of putting paint to canvas anticipates action painting of ...
Category
1930s Abstract Expressionist George Luks Paintings
Materials
Oil
Portrait of an Old Man
By George Luks
Located in Miami, FL
Painted from life with bravura brush strokes, Luks captures the essence of the sitter. Work is unframed.
Category
Early 1900s George Luks Paintings
Materials
Oil
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George Luks paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic George Luks paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by George Luks in oil paint, paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large George Luks paintings, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Joseph Glasco, Agnes Hart, and William Gear. George Luks paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $18,500 and tops out at $48,000, while the average work can sell for $25,000.