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Jane Kahan Gallery

George Benjamin Luks was born on August 13, 1867 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. At a very early age, his parents recognized his artistic talent, and they encouraged him to pursue his interests in becoming an artist. George Luks enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied under Thomas Anshutz. He studied abroad in Duseldorf, Paris and London and returned to the United States in 1894. It was in this year that Luks settled in Philadelphia and began work as an illustrator for the Philadelphia Press and Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 
 
The beginning of the 20th century was a time of mass expansion of the United States. Cities were rapidly expanding with new factories and buildings, and they were being filled by the growing population of immigrants and factory workers. The metropolises of Philadelphia and New York became centers for culture of all types, and important artists flocked there to capture the evolving energy and diversity. Among these artists was George Benjamin Luks. His staff positions as an illustrator for the Philadelphia Press and Philadelphia Evening Bulletin placed him in contact with many of the artists that would go on to form the group known as “The Eight”. Gradually, George Benjamin Luks and the other artists moved to New York City, where many of them continued to work as illustrators. Luks took a position at the New York World and The Verdict and shared living accommodations with William Glackens. The eccentric and bizarre behavior of Luks attracted many interesting characters, including the homeless people that lived in his neighborhood. Luks made friends with these people and often used them as subjects for his paintings. The stark realism that embodied Luk’s canvasses earned him great recognition and a place among the other “Ash Can” artists. 
 
In 1908 George Luks exhibited together with seven other artists, lead by Robert Henri, at Macbeth’s Gallery in an attempt to free themselves of the teachings of the National Academy. This exhibition earned them the title of “The Eight”, and was composed of artists George Luks, John Sloan, William Glackens, Everett Shinn, Robert Henri (“The Philadelphia Five”), Maurice Prendergast, Arthur B. Davies and Ernest Lawson. 
   
Associations
Boston Art Club
Eight (The Eight)
National Arts Club
New York Watercolor Society
Portrait Society of America
Society of Independent Artists
Whitney Studio Club
 
Museums
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts
Albright-Know Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cheeckwood Museum of Art & Botanical Garden, Nashville, Tennessee
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
De Young Museum, San Francisco, California
Delaware Art Museum, San Francisco, California
Edwin a Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas
El Paso Museum of Art, Texas
Everson Musuem of Art, Syracuse, New York
Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina
Heckscher Museum, New York
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana
Jack S Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts
Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Michael C Carlos Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York
Museum of Art at Brigham Young, Utah
Museum of Art, For Lauderdale, Florida
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts – St. Petersburg, Florida
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York
New Orleans Museum of Art
New York University Collection
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania
Rhode Island School of Design – Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island
Richmond Art Museum, Indiana
Robert Hull Fleming Museum, Burlington, Vermont
San Diego Museum of Art, California
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska
Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Springfield Museum of Art, Ohio
Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia
The Arkansas Art Center
The Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, New York
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
The Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
The Columbus Museum, Georgia
The Dayton Art Institute, Ohio
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
The Newark Museum, New Jersey
The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York
The Philips Collection, Washington, DC
The Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri
The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Michigan
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland
Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut
Wetservelt-Warner Museum of American Art, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut


ARTWORK: George Luks