Highway
Artist
George Tooker
(American, 1920–2011)
Date1953
MediumEgg tempera on gesso hardboard
DimensionsImage: 22 7/8 x 17 7/8 in. (58.1 x 45.4 cm)
Frame: 27 5/8 x 22 5/8 in. (70.2 x 57.5 cm)
Frame: 27 5/8 x 22 5/8 in. (70.2 x 57.5 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1992.134
SignedLower right: TOOKER
Copyright© Estate of George Tooker. Courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York
InterpretationGeorge Tooker's Highway is a haunting fantasy of a roadblock. Three cars, their snarling, fang-like grilles mirroring their drivers' frustration, are immobilized by the authoritative gesture of a mysterious figure completely clothed in black, his head blocked from view by a red reflector he brandishes as if commanding the viewer himself to halt. Movement is thwarted by the screen of signs sporting downward-pointing arrows and the barriers that hem in the cars, their striated grilles echoing the vivid zebra stripes. Street lamps trace the highway's path backward under a lowering sky tinged unnatural colors as if by smog, but the view is otherwise cut off by the road barriers; only the tops of old-fashioned red-brick buildings and black silo-like stacks are visible above them.
Early in his career, Tooker applied his fastidious technique, inspired by early Renaissance painting, to the negative social effects of such aspects of contemporary American society as bureaucracy and technology. This work, according to the artist, was intended to express how much he hated highways. In the early 1950s, when Tooker painted it, the United States contained about six percent of the world's population but sixty percent of all automobiles, the result of postwar prosperity and suburban development. The nation's highway system, which dated to the 1920s, had deteriorated by the 1950s due to wartime neglect of maintenance and greatly increased traffic volume, and roadblocks were a frequent annoyance.
Arts impresario Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996), an early champion of Tooker's work, described him as a “magic realist" for his manipulation of commonplace objects as powerful symbols. Tooker was one of several artists who applied traditional techniques to this mode of interpreting the world around them. His chosen medium of egg tempera painting on wooden panel enhances the hushed perfection of his perfectly modeled forms and highly finished surfaces, so jarringly at odds with the scene's menacing effect.
Early in his career, Tooker applied his fastidious technique, inspired by early Renaissance painting, to the negative social effects of such aspects of contemporary American society as bureaucracy and technology. This work, according to the artist, was intended to express how much he hated highways. In the early 1950s, when Tooker painted it, the United States contained about six percent of the world's population but sixty percent of all automobiles, the result of postwar prosperity and suburban development. The nation's highway system, which dated to the 1920s, had deteriorated by the 1950s due to wartime neglect of maintenance and greatly increased traffic volume, and roadblocks were a frequent annoyance.
Arts impresario Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996), an early champion of Tooker's work, described him as a “magic realist" for his manipulation of commonplace objects as powerful symbols. Tooker was one of several artists who applied traditional techniques to this mode of interpreting the world around them. His chosen medium of egg tempera painting on wooden panel enhances the hushed perfection of his perfectly modeled forms and highly finished surfaces, so jarringly at odds with the scene's menacing effect.
1953 Annual of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, October 15–December 6, 1953.
The New Decade: 35 American Painters and Sculptors, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11–August 7, 1955; San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California, October 6–November 6, 1955; Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, November 20, 1955–January 7, 1956; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, February 9–March 20, 1956; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, April 15–May 15, 1956. [exh. cat.]
George Tooker, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (organizer). Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 5–September 5, 1967, no. 8. [exh. cat.]
The Surreal City: 1930s–1950s, Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, New York, May 3–July 11, 1985; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, July 19–October 13, 1985; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, October 27–December 15, 1985; Fred L. Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, January 4–February 10, 1986; High Museum of Art at Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta, Georgia, February 24–April 25, 1986. [exh. cat.]
George Tooker: Spoleto Festival U.S.A. 1987, Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina, May 21–June 8, 1987.
Carsinart: The Automobile Icon, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, Florida, May 11–June 30, 1990. [exh. cat.]
Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1991.
Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.
Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–July 1, 2001.
American Moderns, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 14–October 7, 2001.
Mid-Century Modern: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 20–July 7, 2002.
George Tooker: A Retrospective, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Ohio (organizer). Venues: National Academy Museum, New York, New York, October 2, 2008–January 4, 2009; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 30–April 5, 2009; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, May 1–September 6, 2009. [exh. cat.]
Gallery installation, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 1, 2011–May 18, 2016.
The New Decade: 35 American Painters and Sculptors, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 11–August 7, 1955; San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California, October 6–November 6, 1955; Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, November 20, 1955–January 7, 1956; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, February 9–March 20, 1956; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, April 15–May 15, 1956. [exh. cat.]
George Tooker, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (organizer). Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 5–September 5, 1967, no. 8. [exh. cat.]
The Surreal City: 1930s–1950s, Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, New York (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, New York, May 3–July 11, 1985; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, July 19–October 13, 1985; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, October 27–December 15, 1985; Fred L. Emerson Gallery at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, January 4–February 10, 1986; High Museum of Art at Georgia Pacific Center, Atlanta, Georgia, February 24–April 25, 1986. [exh. cat.]
George Tooker: Spoleto Festival U.S.A. 1987, Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina, May 21–June 8, 1987.
Carsinart: The Automobile Icon, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, Florida, May 11–June 30, 1990. [exh. cat.]
Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1991.
Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.
Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–July 1, 2001.
American Moderns, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 14–October 7, 2001.
Mid-Century Modern: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 20–July 7, 2002.
George Tooker: A Retrospective, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Ohio (organizer). Venues: National Academy Museum, New York, New York, October 2, 2008–January 4, 2009; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 30–April 5, 2009; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, May 1–September 6, 2009. [exh. cat.]
Gallery installation, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 1, 2011–May 18, 2016.
1953 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Painting. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art) New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1953. Text cat. no. 138 (checklist).
The New Decade: 35 American Painters and Sculptors. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art) New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1955. Text p. 96 (checklist).
Taubes, Frederic. “Egg Tempera Painting." American Artist 21, no. 5 (May 1957): 20-25, 69. Ill. p. 23.
George Tooker. (exh. cat., Jaffe-Friede Gallery). Hanover, New Hampshire: Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, 1967. Ill. no. 8.
Christie's New York, New York (June 1, 1984): lot 288. Ill. lot 288, p. 303 (color).
American Paintings III. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1985. Text p. 111; ill. p. 111 (color).
Garver, Thomas H. George Tooker. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1985. Text pp. 32, 34; ill. p. 40 (color).
Lobowsky, Susan. The Surreal City: 1930s–1950s. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1985. Text and ill (color).
Weschler, Jeffrey. “Magic Realism: Defining the Indefinite." Art Journal 45, no. 4 (Winter 1985): 293–98. Text p. 295; ill. p. 295, fig. 4 (black & white).
Fox, Catherine. “Culture goes downtown.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution (February 23, 1986): 1J-4J. Ill. p. 1J (color).
Hausman, Jerome. “Instructional Resources: Memories, Dreams, and Fantasies.” Art Education 39, no. 4 (July 1986): 25-32. Text p. 27; ill. p. 28 (color).
Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Ill. p. 294, pl. T-185 (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. “The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 262, no. 17 (November 1989): 2348. Text p. 2348; ill. cover (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. The Journal of the American Medical Association France 1, no. 6 (December 1989): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. The Journal of the American Medical Association Japan 262, no. 17 (June 1990): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Carsinart: The Automobile Icon. (exh. cat., Pensacola Museum of Art). Pensacola, Florida: Pensacola Museum of Art, 1990. Ill. p. 29, cat. no. 26 (black & white).
Highway, George Tooker. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1991. Ill. (black & white).
Garver, Thomas H. George Tooker. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992. Text pp. 35, 144 (checklist); ill. p. 38 (color).
Murphy, Patrick J. Way Below E. Fredonia, NY: White Pine Press, 1994. Ill. cover (color, detail).
Rawson, Cynthia. “George Tooker." Art Education (September 1992): 42–44. Text pp. 42–43; ill. p. 44.
Mittler, Gene, Rosalind Ragans, Jean Morman Unsworth, and Faye Scannell. Introducing Art. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 1997. Ill. p. 270 (color).
Cozzolino, Robert et al. George Tooker. (exh. cat., Columbus Museum of Art; National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). London, England: Merrell Publishers Limited, 2008. Text p. 187 (checklist); ill. p. 129, pl. 23 (color).
Kuspit, Donald. “George Tooker: Iconoclastic Traditionalist." American Art Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2009). Text.
An Architect’s Dream: The Magic Realist World of Thomas Fransioli. New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 2015. Text p. 13 ill. p. 12, fig. 3 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 278, 279; ill. p. 279, detail pp. 280-281 (color).
The New Decade: 35 American Painters and Sculptors. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art) New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1955. Text p. 96 (checklist).
Taubes, Frederic. “Egg Tempera Painting." American Artist 21, no. 5 (May 1957): 20-25, 69. Ill. p. 23.
George Tooker. (exh. cat., Jaffe-Friede Gallery). Hanover, New Hampshire: Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, 1967. Ill. no. 8.
Christie's New York, New York (June 1, 1984): lot 288. Ill. lot 288, p. 303 (color).
American Paintings III. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1985. Text p. 111; ill. p. 111 (color).
Garver, Thomas H. George Tooker. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1985. Text pp. 32, 34; ill. p. 40 (color).
Lobowsky, Susan. The Surreal City: 1930s–1950s. (exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1985. Text and ill (color).
Weschler, Jeffrey. “Magic Realism: Defining the Indefinite." Art Journal 45, no. 4 (Winter 1985): 293–98. Text p. 295; ill. p. 295, fig. 4 (black & white).
Fox, Catherine. “Culture goes downtown.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution (February 23, 1986): 1J-4J. Ill. p. 1J (color).
Hausman, Jerome. “Instructional Resources: Memories, Dreams, and Fantasies.” Art Education 39, no. 4 (July 1986): 25-32. Text p. 27; ill. p. 28 (color).
Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Ill. p. 294, pl. T-185 (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. “The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 262, no. 17 (November 1989): 2348. Text p. 2348; ill. cover (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. The Journal of the American Medical Association France 1, no. 6 (December 1989): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Southgate, M. Therese. The Journal of the American Medical Association Japan 262, no. 17 (June 1990): cover. Ill. cover (color).
Carsinart: The Automobile Icon. (exh. cat., Pensacola Museum of Art). Pensacola, Florida: Pensacola Museum of Art, 1990. Ill. p. 29, cat. no. 26 (black & white).
Highway, George Tooker. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1991. Ill. (black & white).
Garver, Thomas H. George Tooker. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992. Text pp. 35, 144 (checklist); ill. p. 38 (color).
Murphy, Patrick J. Way Below E. Fredonia, NY: White Pine Press, 1994. Ill. cover (color, detail).
Rawson, Cynthia. “George Tooker." Art Education (September 1992): 42–44. Text pp. 42–43; ill. p. 44.
Mittler, Gene, Rosalind Ragans, Jean Morman Unsworth, and Faye Scannell. Introducing Art. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 1997. Ill. p. 270 (color).
Cozzolino, Robert et al. George Tooker. (exh. cat., Columbus Museum of Art; National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). London, England: Merrell Publishers Limited, 2008. Text p. 187 (checklist); ill. p. 129, pl. 23 (color).
Kuspit, Donald. “George Tooker: Iconoclastic Traditionalist." American Art Quarterly 26, no. 1 (Winter 2009). Text.
An Architect’s Dream: The Magic Realist World of Thomas Fransioli. New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 2015. Text p. 13 ill. p. 12, fig. 3 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 278, 279; ill. p. 279, detail pp. 280-281 (color).
Far Gallery, New York
Joseph Verner Reed, Jr., New York, by 1967
Christie's New York, New York, June 1, 1984, lot 288
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1992
