George Tooker

George Tooker
George Tooker (left) receiving the National Medal of Arts from George W. Bush in 2007
Born	(1920-08-05)August 5, 1920 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	March 27, 2011(2011-03-27) (aged 90) Hartland, Vermont, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Phillips Academy
Alma mater	Harvard University Art Students League of New York
Movement	Figurative art, Social realism, Surrealism
Awards	National Medal of Arts
Elected	National Academy of Design

George Clair Tooker, Jr. (August 5, 1920 – March 27, 2011) was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with Magic realism, Social realism, Photorealism and Surrealism. His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, but the images use flat tones, an ambiguous perspective, and alarming juxtapositions to suggest an imagined or dreamed reality. He did not agree with the association of his work with Magic realism or Surrealism, as he said, "I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy." In 1968, he was elected to the National Academy of Design and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Tooker was one of nine recipients of the National Medal of Arts in 2007.

George Tooker was born on August 5, 1920 in Brooklyn, where he spent the first six years of his life. He was raised by his father, George Clair Tooker, a U.S. citizen of Anglo-French descent, and his mother, Angela Montejo Roura, who was of English and Spanish-Cuban descent in the Episcopal Church. Leaving Brooklyn, the family moved to Bellport, New York in Suffolk County on Long Island. He had a sister, Mary Tooker Graham.

He took art lessons as a child and spent much of his young adult life at the Fogg Art Museum. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard University with an English degree in 1942 and enlisted in the Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps), but was discharged for medical reasons.