A member of the Ashcan School of American painting, George Luks created vigorous depictions of the urban poor. Born in the coal mining community of Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1867 to immigrant parents, Luks’ career was multi-faceted. From his teenage years in vaudeville to his work as an illustrator at various newspapers, Luks eventually became best known for his realistic paintings of the urban life of working-class people in New York City. A member of the Ashcan School and The Eight, Luks’ robust confidence and ability to adapt his artistic styles allowed him to challenge the artistic academic standards of his time.
After a brief time at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Luks left America in 1884 to travel and study in Europe. Upon his return he embarked on a career as an illustrator in the newspaper world, first at the Philadelphia Press then later at The New York World. His work in journalism helped him develop a keen eye for documenting life as it was lived, which he applied to his serious paintings.
During his time as an illustrator Luks continued with his fine art painting. During his first year at the Philadelphia Press he met Everett Shinn, and together with William Glackens, John Sloan, and their unofficial leader Robert Henri, Luks and Shinn created the Philadelphia Five. Three years after Luks left the newspaper business to focus on teaching and fine art painting, the Philadelphia Five expanded to become the Eight, which eventually became part of the larger Ashcan School movement. Rebelling against the National Academy of Design, the Eight claimed that the subject of their paintings should not be dictated by an institution, but rather chosen by the individual artist. They were also steadfast in the notion that their work should remain closely tied to its contextual setting. In 1908, when the group was formed, The Eight had a traveling show that lasted a full year, entitled, “Paintings by Eight American artists Residing in New York & Boston.”
After moving to New York City Luks’s paintings were frequently portraits of the working poor on the lower east side. While not exclusively focused on this subject matter, the Ashcan school was known for the gritty realistic portrayals of poverty and hardship. During the summers of 1925 and 1927, Luks returned to the coal-mining region where he was raised, and produced a number of portraits of the coal miners. Luks had a singular talent in articulating the harsher elements of man’s existence, and did so with an acceptance and an understanding that veered away from pretension. With reworked brushstrokes he gave emphasis to his subjects’ faces, eliciting an emotional response from the viewer. His honest representation of the people he painted, along with the work of his Ashcan counterparts, helped set in motion the social realism and American scene painting movement of the 20s and 30s.
Luks was inspired by what he saw right outside his front door, in America’s streets and alley ways. In 1925, Luks opened the George Luks School of Painting, a school that received a number of mixed reviews due to Luks’ unconventional teaching methods. Adamant that talent was innate and forced academia would lead to art’s destruction, he encouraged others to find their inner artistic drive, putting emphasis on painting from observation.
Luks died in 1933 after a barroom brawl. The press reported that he’d had a heart attack, even though the true cause was widely known. In the artist’s obituary from the New York Times it was noted, “his versatility was astonishing, and he painted as he lived, contemptuous of conventionalities, impatient with snobbishness and full of the joy of life that so many of his paintings reflected.” Luks’ works may be found in many museums including the MET, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Addison Gallery of American Art, the Barnes Museum, the Detroit Art Institute, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and others.
By Kira Romano