Spurgeon Tucker
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Spurgeon Tucker (November 2, 1894 – June 5, 1968) was an accomplished 20th-century American painter and successful
lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
. He was primarily known for his portraits of
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celebrities, but many would contend that his finest works were of the things he loved most: his family, everyday items from his
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
home and quiet countryside scenes. He received acclaim in the 1950s after several exhibitions, including a showing at the Smithsonian, but chose to protect his amateur status and to keep the paintings in his family. Many of his paintings are unsigned.


Personal life

Tucker was born to Bertha Hampton and William Tucker in Toronto, Canada, on November 2, 1894, and was the second of three sons. He joined the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
and became a pilot and an officer but
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
ended before he was due to be sent to Europe. He moved to New York City and began working for Daniel Petigor, a lithographer. He later started his own lithography business, Spurgeon Tucker, Inc. The business was successful and he had Ford,
Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...
,
White Rock Beverages White Rock Beverages (White Rock Products Corporation) is an American beverage company located in Whitestone, Queens, New York City. The company was established in 1871 by pharmacist H.M. Colver in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Potawatomi Indians a ...
, Chesterfield, Sunshine Biscuits, Bulova Watch and Borden Milk among his clients. His first marriage, in 1924, was to Lavinia Adelaide Young. In 1935, he married Petigor's daughter, Adlyn, and they had two daughters. In 1938, Tucker’s eldest daughter, Patricia, was featured in the Borden Milk billboards as the “Borden Baby.” He raised his family in 1185
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...
in New York City and in Bay Shore, Long Island. In addition to art, he was passionate about
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and his garden on Long Island. Tucker remained in New York City and enjoyed frequent trips to Long Island until his death from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
in 1968.


Exhibitions

Tucker was a member of the
Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership rost ...
, and many of his works were exhibited at Salamagundi shows. Tucker’s Geraniums was shown at The Smithsonian Institution,
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington, D.C. as a part of the American Artists Professional League, American Art Week Exhibition in 1963. Tucker also exhibited at several shows in the New York City area.


Paintings

While mostly known for his celebrity portraits, the majority of Tucker’s paintings were quiet outdoor scenes, still lifes or family portraits. He often took day trips to the
Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...
,
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, or up and down Long Island and often pulled over to the side of the road when he saw a setting that moved him. He also painted many objects from his Long Island home, and portraits of his family at home and on vacations. Some of the items from the still lifes and the clothes from the portraits have been saved with the paintings.


Celebrity portraits

Spurgeon Tucker’s celebrity portraits include * Anne Jeffries (as Kate, in ''Kiss Me Kate''), 1950 *
Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...
as Saint Joan (painting was reproduced on the cover of the large program during her Broadway run, and on the cover of the '' New York Times Sunday Magazine''), 1951 *
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...
and
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
to benefit the New York Heart Cardiac Fund, 1952 *
Diana Barrymore Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe (March 3, 1921 – January 25, 1960) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe in New York, New York, Diana Barrymore was the daughter of actor John Barrymore and hi ...
(painting was reproduced on the book jacket of her book ''Too Much Too Soon'' and was displayed at the
Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...
), 1957 * B. D. Hyman, Bette Davis's daughter, age 6 (BD mentions sitting for the portrait in her book, ''My Mother's Keeper'') *
Hetty Green Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as th ...
(painted posthumously for the play ''Put Them All Together'', starring Fay Bainter and
Kay Medford Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl'' and the Funny Girl (film), film adaptati ...
, was over the mantle on the set, and during the curtain calls where the painting took a bow) 1963 * Carlos Montelban * Clare Boothe Luce (as Kate in ''The Taming of the Shrew'') * Danton Walker, the ''Daily News'' Broadway columnist * Ethel Thorson


Books

* Barrymore, Diana and Frank, Gerold. ''Too Much, Too Soon''. New York: Holt (1957) * Lewis, Arthur H. ''The Day They Shook the Plum Tree''. New York: Harcourt Brace (1963) * Hyman, B.D., ''My Mother's Keeper''. New York: William Morrow & Co(1985)


External links


Salmagundi Art Club

National Gallery of Art


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Spurgeon 20th-century American painters American male painters 1894 births 1968 deaths People from Bay Shore, New York 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American lithographers