A painter of both Social Realism and Abstract Expressionism and part of the New York School, James Brooks did many large-scale paintings that expressed a sense of cosmic space as though a high-powered telescope were penetrating space so deeply that one feels the color, the form and the surge of movement. He used much black, so that darkness seemed equal to the other colors of his canvases and conveyed a sense of void amongst floating and colliding bright colors.
In 1926, Brooks moved to New York City and worked as a commercial lettering artist, while taking night classes at the Art Students League from 1927 to 1930. From 1931 to 1934, he traveled and painted in the American West and Southwest, painting in a Social Realist style.
Between 1936 and 1942, he worked on murals for the WPA Federal Art Project including ones for Queensborough Public Library, Woodside Branch Library, and LaGuardia Airport. The LaGuardia mural called Flight, later destroyed, was especially impressive and huge — 12 feet by 235 feet. Brooks served in North Africa as an army artist during World War II, and the end of this service also marked the end of his painting in realistic styles.
In 1949, having observed Jackson Pollock's drip style, Brooks experimented with pouring pigment on the back of un-sized canvas, and became much lauded for his achieving of balance between spontaneity and control. In 1953, he abandoned that technique for much more densely packed, tightly controlled structure resembling Cubism. In the early 1960s, he added linear calligraphy to his painting.
From 1947 to 1975, Brooks taught at various colleges and universities including Pratt Institute, Columbia University, and Cooper Union in New York City, the Art Center in Miami, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1963, he was an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome and in 1967 had a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Brooks died in East Hampton, New York, in 1992, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease beginning 1985.
Find original James Brooks paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
$12,000Sale Price|20% Off
Plant-like
By James Brooks
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
James Brooks (1906-1992). Plantlike, c.1945. Oil on canvas measures 18 x 24 inches; 24 x 30 inches in a painted wood frame of the period. Signed "J. David Brooks" lower right, Signed...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$8,117
H 38.58 in W 66.14 in D 1.8 in
Coastal Equilibrium: Abstract Expressionist Oil and Acrylic Painting
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
All the custom charges are included in the final price agreed. Turquoise, beige, red, lines, blue, fluid, movement. Abstract expressionist painting, large-scale contemporary art...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$6,048Sale Price|34% Off
H 78.75 in W 59.06 in D 3.94 in
Eternal Abstract Expressionist Painting, XXL Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
full size 211x159cm stretched size 200xx150cmx10cm All custom charges are included in the final price agreed. unframed, shipped rolled XXL, Extra-large painting, large painting, ab...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$6,135Sale Price|41% Off
H 82.68 in W 80.32 in D 3.94 in
Eternity Abstract Expressionist Painting, XXL Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
full size 212x118cm full size canvas stretched size204x110x10cm All custom charges are included in the final price agreed. unframed, shipped rolled XXL, Extra-large painting, larg...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$1,158
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in D 0.6 in
Original-La Vie en Rose-Awarded Artist-British School-Expression-Summer Bloom
By Shizico Yi
Located in London, GB
Summer Bloom series began in 2022, where Shizico Yi celebrating the season by painting en plein air in her garden. In 2024, she embarks on a fresh chapter with her new rose garden. T...
Gesso, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$10,444
H 86.62 in W 59.06 in D 3.94 in
Eternity Abstract Expressionist Painting, XXL Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
full size 229x156cm full size canvas approximate stretched size 220x150cm All custom charges are included in the final price agreed. unframed, shipped rolled XXL, Extra-large pain...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$8,117
H 62.21 in W 85.83 in D 3.94 in
Harmony Floral Abstract Painting in Acrylic on Canvas, 21st Century
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
All custom charges are included in the final price agreed. Floral abstract contemporary decor, blue flowers, still-life. Artist: Katarina Joys: Title: "Harmony" Full size ca...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$6,957
H 33.47 in W 37.41 in D 3.94 in
Red Bloom Acrylic Painting on Canvas, Modern Abstract Floral Art
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
Floral vintage tapestry abstract decor Red flowers still-life. Artist: Katarina Joys Title: Red bloom Technique: acrylic on canvas Painted in London, UK, in 2025 Dimensions: 95x85...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$2,673
H 23.63 in W 39.38 in D 0.12 in
Original Diptych-Jardin d'Hiver Moonlit Series-Awarded Artist-Dahlias in blooms
By Shizico Yi
Located in London, GB
[Jardin d'Hiver] is Shizico Yi's on-going series, created in her winter studio while savouring for the summer left behind. This diptych included one evening scene of the last full m...
Gold Leaf
$400
H 12 in W 10 in D 1 in
High Slope, Abstract Expressionist Painting, Oil on Canvas, 2010+
By Evy Olsen Halvorsen
Located in Kingston, WA
I blended abstract and realistic elements to capture the raw energy of a mountain’s slope, a natural expression of memory. I was born surrounded by mountains, steep imposing rocks o...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$661
H 15.83 in W 11.82 in D 0.6 in
Original-Roses in Blue Mist-British Awarded Artist-Oil on Canvas-plein air
By Shizico Yi
Located in London, GB
Roses in Blue Mist is a part of Summer Bloom Series by British artist Shizico Yi. She created the painting in her garden painted plein air during Summer in her garden, trying to se...
Gesso, Oil, Acrylic, Cotton Canvas
$9,277
H 47.25 in W 84.65 in D 1.97 in
Emanation Abstract Expressionist Painting, Acrylic on Canvas, XXL Size
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
Cobalt Blue, Blue, yellow, green, flowers, nature, beige, pink, red, golden, ochre, XXL size, extra large abstract painting, large scale, design artwork. Artist: Katarina Joys Tit...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$9,147
H 85.04 in W 81.5 in D 3.94 in
Abstract Light and Water Painting on Canvas, Oil and Acrylic
By Katarina Joys
Located in London, London
full size 221x113c full size stretched size215x107x10cm All custom charges are included in the final price agreed. unframed, shipped rolled XXL, Extra-large painting, large painti...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Dally
By James Brooks
Located in Columbia, MO
JAMES BROOKS Dally 1981 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 60 inches Framed: 37.5 x 61.5 inches
Acrylic
“Untitled Abstract”
By James Brooks
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil on canvas painting by the well known East Hampton, New York artist, James Brooks. Signed lower right. Circa 1975. Condition is excellent. The painting has a wonderful three dimensional quality to it and is very typical of the artist’s abstract expressionist style. The painting is housed in its original thin rounded pewter colored frame. Overall framed measurements are 25 by 25 inches. Born in St. Louis, MO (1906). Attended Southern Methodist University (1923-25). Moved to New York City (1926). Studied at the Art Students League with Kimon Nicolaides...
Canvas, Oil