In Memoriam--2011 Figurative Artists

     Like many others, I was saddened earlier this year to hear of the loss of the figurative artist Lucian Freud.  You always wonder about that last work in progress that may have gone unfinished, where it ends up, and if anyone was privy to knowing the artist's thoughts about it before his/her departure.

Another artist George Tooker, one of my favorites (who may not have been known as well as Freud) also passed on at the beginning of the year.  Tooker worked almost entirely with egg tempera paint and is probably best known for his paintings done during the 1950s which depict a Kafka-like modern social environment.  They do a good job of expressing that alone in a crowd feeling; human disconnection resulting from a system designed for the masses that overlooks the individual.
     However, Tooker's work is not limited to this subject---he has many other works showing the warmer side of human emotion.  He seems to have a unique way of rendering an expressive face.  I also like the use of perspective in many of his works.  It is interesting to see the pencil studies of these.

Here is one of his works from the Whitney Museum of Art collection, The Subway (1950).  The link to the museum and work is referenced below.

http://www.whitney.org/Collection/GeorgeTooker