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 a ...

. He was primarily known for his portraits of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

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 island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

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; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environm ...

and became a pilot and an officer but

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

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 Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Sunshine Biscuits Sunshine Biscuits, formerly known as The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, was an independent American baker of cookies, crackers, and cereals. The company, which became a brand on a few products such as Cheez-Its, was purchased by Keebler Company ...

, Bulova Watch and

Borden Milk Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in C ...

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 wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

in New York City and in

Bay Shore Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

, Long Island. In addition to art, he was passionate about

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

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 roster ...

, 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, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national 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 char ...

, Washington, D.C. as a part of the

American Artists Professional League The American Artists Professional League (AAPL) is an American organization that promotes artists and their works. It was formed in 1928 in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of Unite ...

, 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 of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, 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 p ...

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 ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''), 1951 *

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

and

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

to benefit the New York Heart Cardiac Fund, 1952 *

Diana Barrymore Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe (March 3, 1921 – January 25, 1960), known professionally as Diana Barrymore, was an American film and stage actress. Early life Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe in New York, New York, Diana Barrymore was t ...

(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 A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

), 1957 *

B. D. Hyman Barbara Davis Hyman (née Sherry; born May 1, 1947) is an American author and pastor. She is the oldest daughter of the actress Bette Davis. Born in Santa Ana, California, she is the daughter of film star Bette Davis (1908–1989) and artist W ...

, Bette Davis's daughter, age 6 (BD mentions sitting for the portrait in her book, ''My Mother's Keeper'') *

Hetty Green Hetty Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916), nicknamed the Witch of Wall Street, was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. She was named by the '' Guinness Book of World Reco ...

(painted posthumously for the play ''Put Them All Together'', starring

Fay Bainter Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter wa ...

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'' and the film adaptation of the same name, she was nominated ...

, was over the mantle on the set, and during the curtain calls where the painting took a bow) 1963 * Carlos Montelban *

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which h ...

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