Background Summary
     On August 13th, 1867, George Benjamin Luks was born in the north-central region of Pennsylvania in the coal-mining city of Williamsport. Son of a doctor (father) and an avid artist (mother), the young artist attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1884, but was also educated in Germany before moving to Paris and London in 1889 to study art independently. Returning to the United States in 1894, Luks worked for the Philadelphia Press and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin for various artistic jobs. It is also here where Luks joins the Eight, a group of artists focused on the darker, less obvious aspects of America during that time period.

In 1896, the Evening Bulletin sent Luks to Cuba during the Spanish-American War to act as a war correspondent, a journalist who experiences the war zone first hand and covers stories of the war. He quickly returned to New York and worked various jobs, all the while perfecting his painting skills. His work would later reflect the poorer Americans as well as a landscape view of New York City streets and docks from time to time. Teaching at the Art Students League in New York, Luks eventually founded the George Luks School of Painting before passing away in New York City, 1933 (International Arts Acquisition, Inc.).

Samples of George Luk’s Works

“The Bread Line” features one of many portraits of the poor Americans that Luks devoted much effort in portraying.

The “Brooklyn Bridge” painted in 1916 is one of Luk’s rather random landscape pieces of work.

 

A portrait of a random man by Frans Hals displays realistic technique, something that Luks is heavily influenced by.

Socioeconomic and Cultural Context and Influences
     George Luk’s works were often of realistic portraits of people he saw in New York City, specifically the poor or working class. Luk’s fondness for portraits is directly related to his admiration for Golden Age, Dutch artist Frans Hals, best renowned for portraiture. This admiration reached the point where Luks quoted that there were only two great artists; Hals and himself (Cartoonician). This aspect of Luks is important because it should be noted that Luks was fairly successful as a cartoonist and humorist for different New York City news outlets, drawing things such as Hogan’s Alley for the New York World. Luk’s pursuit for deeper, more realistic painting is what lead him to become a great artist in his time.

Luks was also heavily influenced by The Eight, the artist group that he joined. This group heavily experimented in different styles inspired by the city of New York. But not only in form but also in content, the group of artists worked to portray unidealized concepts during those times (such as focus on the slums in New York City, rather than focusing on the more idealistic aspects of the new city). This group eventually merged into a larger group known as the Ashcan school, a group of American realist painters in New York City in the early 20th century (Encyclopedia Britannica). His lengthy devotion of time towards painting realistic portraits is why his landscape works of the city were much scarcer in comparison.

Although Luks like any other artist had bills to pay, he did not only draw to make money. That being said, he did work for various newspapers in New York to draw illustrations, comics, political cartoons, as well as other occupations that required drawing. However an interesting cultural factor that many have influenced Luk’s artistic journey is the developing abstract movement that was developing. What would become known as Abstract Expressionism, many artists were beginning to be influenced by outer conflicts such as different wars, such as Luk’s experience going to Cuba during war time (Khan Academy). Quoted in the International Arts Acquisition, “his formerly radical subject matter and style were overshadowed by the developing abstract movement”. This would have likely signaled a shift in Luk’s artistic style and focus.

“Boulders on a Riverbank” shows a fusion of style between Luk’s fondness of capturing New York City landscape, as well as influence from the developing abstract movement.

“Girl Under Arched Bridge”, also by George luks, demonstrates his style of realistic landscape that significantly differs from his landscape drawn under the influence of developmental abstract expressionism.

Connections to Seminar Themes
     A connection to one of the seminar themes is Social Justice. Although George Luks mainly became an artist due to a natural love for it (likely influenced by his mother), it was evident that Luks was never truly satisfied by simply ‘doing art’. This is evident in the fact that Luks was never rooted to a single occupation or a single news outlet. The concept of Social Justice  is evidently an important concept for Luks as it one of his renowned characteristics as an artist that we see today. Especially focusing on the concept of not rich vs. poor, but simply a focus and emphasis on the poor. Luks like several other artists during that time period realized that New York City was a globally idealized city full of charm, opportunity, and money (a lot of it). And while these weren’t false, many began to disregard those that had fallen behind. There were many slums in New York City developing as fast as some of the markets were, gangs were growing, violence was increasing, and Luks chose to focus on such aspects. This may be the very reason why the only showcasing of The Eight was met with mixed responses as the subject of the art was very dark at times. Social Justice does not always result in beautiful art in the eyes of the public, but can be observed that Luks was heavily influenced and motivated by this sense of justice.

Bibliography
Luks, George Benjamin. “The Bread Line.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Project, 1905, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27The_Bread_Line%27_by_George_Benjamin_Luks,_Dayton_Art_Institute.JPG.

Luks, George Benjamin. “Brooklyn Bridge.” Www.wikiart.org, Wiki Paintings, 1 Jan. 1970, www.wikiart.org/en/george-luks/brooklyn-bridge-1916.

International Art Acquisitions, Inc. “George Benjamin Luks.” International Art Acquisitions, Inc., International Art Acquisitions, Inc., http://internationalartacquisitions.com/george-benjamin-luks-biography/

Heintjes, Tom. “George Luks: The ‘Other’ Yellow Kid Artist.” Hogan’s Alley, Bull Moose Publishing, 16 Oct. 2015, cartoonician.com/george-luks-the-other-yellow-kid-artist/2/.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “George Luks.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Apr. 2017, www.britannica.com/biography/George-Luks.

Johns, Jasper. “The Impact of Abstract Expressionism.” KHANACADEMY, Khan Academy, 2015, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/abstract-exp-nyschool/ny-school/a/the-impact-of-abstract-expressionism. 

Luks, George Benjamin. “Girl Under Arched Bridge.” Google Arts and Culture, Google, 1880, www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/AQEYYmapINCiJw.