George Claire Tooker

born: Brooklyn, NY, US; 5 August 1920
lives in: Hartland, Vermont, US

The first part of this summary biography is located in Part 1 of Tooker Gallery.

In 1960, George and his life partner, Bill Christopher, move to Vermont. They buy a barn in White River Junction and move it to their home site in Hartland. They cut the Barn down quite a bit and then add on additional rooms.

In the 60s Bill teaches in the fine arts department of Dartmouth University. George teaches at the Art Students League in New York. Both come to Vermont on weekends. They commute mostly by rail.

In 1968 they decide to live half a year in Malaga, Spain and half a year in Vermont. Bill finds the winters in Vermont difficult. So he stops teaching at Dartmouth and they both go to Spain for the winters. They plan to move there permanently.

In 1973 Bill Christopher dies in Spain. George returns to the Vermont house. In succeeding years he occasionally visits their place in Spain. But eventually, he gives up going to Spain at all. His paintings are now focused more on introspection and have lost much of the sexual tension of his work in the forties and the social commentary of his work in the fifties.

The years after Bill's death he finds difficult and leave him in emotional turmoil. He response he turns, in part, to the Catholic church, and he converts from Episcopalian to Roman Catholic.

He paints pictures for the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Windsor, Vermont. These include a series for the stations of the cross and an altarpiece .

George Tooker still lives and works in rural Vermont.