White Curtain

Details

GEORGE TOOKER (1920-2011)
White Curtain
signed with initials 'G.T' (lower right)
tempera on board
18 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (47.6 x 36.8 cm.)
Painted in 1951.

Provenance

Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York.
Oscar M. and Zelia P. Ruebhausen, New York, gift from the above.
Estate of the above.
Christie’s, New York, 19 May 2005, lot 209, sold by the above.
Franklin Riehlman Fine Art/Megan Moynihan Fine Art, acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 2000s.

Literature

T.H. Garver, George Tooker, San Francisco, California, 1992, pp. 48, 50, 142, illustrated.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Tylee Abbott Vice President, Head of American Art

tabbott@christies.com +1 212 707 5925

Lot Essay

Thomas H. Garver notes regarding the present work, "The use of drapery elements to preserve mysteries and to entrap and transmit light is a very important device for Tooker and one which he uses frequently. Often, the drapery almost conceals an object or person behind it, but on several occasions he has painted just the drapery itself, for his rendering of the folds, billows, and swags of drapery with conviction is a technical tour de force. Early on, he painted several smaller works, shelves containing still-life objects, or just the curtains covering the shelves...White Curtain (1951) is one such painting. It is rendered to maximize its trompe l'oeil effect with the fabric touching the bottom of the 'frame' of the opening and falling forward out of the picture plane." (George Tooker, San Francisco, California, 1992, p. 48)

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