Knitting for the Soldiers: High Bridge Park

The genteel urban vision revealed in Knitting for the Soldiers: High Bridge Park contrasts sharply with the harsher, grimier New York City of George Luks's earlier paintings. In 1912 Luks had moved from Greenwich Village to Upper Manhattan and turned his attention from rough street life to the social activities in High Bridge Park, just a five-minute walk from his studio. While taking advantage of the expressive possibilities of paint, Luks suggested details of costume and gesture with a sharp reporter's eye: the women's garments are simple, yet fashionable enough to mark them as comfortably middle-class. Varying in age from young to elderly, they work in silent camaraderie. This painting was exhibited in 1918 simply as Knitting, but in the fervor of the war effort, critics naturally assumed that the scarves and gloves were being made for soldiers.

The painting's vibrant palette marks a departure from Luks's earlier dark tonality. He captured the brisk atmosphere and sparkling cold light of a winter's day with pure yet nuanced colors, from the vivid yellow coat and red hat of the young woman at the left to the cool violet and blue shadows on the icy ground beneath the strollers. The painting's high-keyed color and unsentimental appreciation of mundane activities recall French impressionist scenes of modern life. Throughout his career, Luks never rejected an urban point of view. Yet this painting, an example of his mature style, reflects a synthetic and balanced assimilation of European and American artistic influences.

Paintings and Water Colors by George Luks, Kraushaar Gallery, New York, New York, January 14–February 2, 1918.

One Hundred Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 25–March 15, 1931.

Exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island.

Metropolitan Lives: Ashcan Artists and Their New York, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venues: National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., November 15, 1995–March 17, 1996; New York Historical Society, New York, New York, May 1–August 4, 1996. [exh. cat.]

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 1998.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

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.

Selections from the Permanent Collection: American Moderns, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 14–October 7, 2001.

(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 4, 2002–September 1, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.

The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003. [exh. cat.]

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9–April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007 (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008 (exhibited in Beijing and Shanghai; exhibited in Bilbao). [exh. cat.]

The Eight and American Modernisms, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (organizers). Venues: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, March 6–May 24, 2009; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 6–August 23, 2009. [exh. cat]

An American Experiment: George Bellows and the Ashcan Painters, National Gallery, London, United Kingdom and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: National Gallery, London, United Kingdom, March 3– May 30, 2011. [exh. cat.]

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, New York (Sale 1146, April 5, 1950): lot 58. Ill. no. 58, p. 17.

Christie's, New York, New York (Sale JACK-7082, May 23, 1990): lot 185. Text p. 198; ill. lot 185, p. 199.

Zurier, Rebecca, Robert W. Snyder, and Virginia M. Mecklenburg. Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists and Their New York. (exh. cat., National Museum of American Art). Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art in association with W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1995. Text pp. 77, 224 (checklist); fig. 78, p. 78 (color).

Bailey, Janet. "The Ashcan School's New York." Diversion (December 1995): 147–53. Ill. p. 152.

Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. "Ashcan Painters Made the Ordinary Into Art." Insight (January 1–8, 1996). Ill.

Tsuda, Margaret. "When New York Met the Ashcan Artists." The Christian Science Monitor (March 7, 1996): 16. Text p. 16; ill. p. 16 (black & white).

Thorson, Alice. "Art Imitates Life in the Streets." Kansas City Star (March 18, 1996): I-1, I-3. Text p. I-3; ill. p. I-3.

May, Stephen. "The Ashcan Artists and Their New York." Antiques and the Arts Weekly (July 12, 1996): 67–70. Ill. p. 70 (black & white).

Knitting for Soldiers: High Bridge Park, George Luks. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 1998. Ill. (black & white).

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 25 (checklist); ill. p. 32 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 25 (checklist); ill. p. 32 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick. "The City and Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920." American Art Review 7:1 (January–February 2000): 100–11. Ill. p. 108 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 150, 152, 200; ill. pp. 153 (color), 200 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 150, 152, 200; ill. pp. 153 (color), 200 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 9, 29 (checklist); ill. p. 8 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text pp. 9, 29 (checklist); ill. p. 8 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. (exh. cat., National Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Museum). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Chinese and English version; citing English version). Ill. p. 177 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in the USA: 300 años de innovación. (exh. cat., Guggenheim Museum Bilbao). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Spanish version). Ill. p. 127 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth et al. The Eight and American Modernisms. (exh. cat., New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text pp. 95 175 (checklist); Ill. p. 94 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth. "The Eight and American Modernisms" American Art Review 21.2 (March–April 2009): 118–127. Ill. p. 122 (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 p. 206; ill. p. 206 (color).