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TREE

measurements
20 by 20 in.

alternate measurements
(50.8 by 50.8 cm)

signed Tooker, l.r.

egg tempera on gessoed panel

Painted in 1965.

PROVENANCE

Irma Rudin Fine Art, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1982

LITERATURE

Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, New York, 1985, p. 102, illustrated p. 134
Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, Petaluma, California, 1992, pp. 113, 145, illustrated in color p. 110

NOTE

In addition to creating potent visual critiques of contemporary culture, George Tooker also devoted a number of years to a deeply personal and intimate subject: the relationships of lovers. Thomas H. Garver notes that in this important body of work Tooker embraces a "vision of love in its perfected form, built as much upon caring as upon passion. Tooker's lovers exist only for themselves, in magical landscapes or light-filled interiors empty of any distractions" (George Tooker, 1985, p. 101).

Garver continues, "Tree (1965) certainly warrants inclusion among this group of lovers, but, unlike the other pictures, it shows a different and more ordered aspect of love. The timeless embrace, the desire to be together always is replaced by a couple whose relationship to one another is more visual than visceral...The work is painted with very little contrast. The highlights and shadows are very close in intensity, without fortissimo or pianissimo, matching the quiet, relaxed tone of the figures themselves. The two heads, one seen in profile and the other in full face, are classic studies of the Tooker physiogamy, and that seems to suggest another reason for the execution of the painting, a desire to portray the same head from two points of view" (George Tooker, 1985, p. 102).