American 

Size:  35x28. Medium:  oil on canvas

Signature:  lower right:  titled: reclining nude

George Luks: was born in 1867 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Luks first lesson in art was from his parents who pursued painting as a hobby.  At age seventeen he entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  He later studied in Dusseldorf, and then went on with his studies in both Paris and London.  Luks was also war correspondent in 1896 in Cuba, rumor has it he was captured by the Spainiards as a spy and then he was deported and landed in New York, cold, broke and hungry.  Luks lived with fellow illustrator Everett Shinn.   He started painting portraits of everyday people he saw.  He also was active in the Molly Macguires which was a secret organization of Irish-Americans that tried to improve the plight of area miners.  At that point his art became known for illustrating the more down and out people.  He is also known as an Ash Can School painter and was part of the The Eight which was a rebellion group against the National Academy.   Luks was also known for his heavy drinking and barroom brawling.  He was found dead in New York after night of heavy imbibing.

The George Luks painting of a nude girl reclining in a chair, is an oil on canvas, signed lower right and framed in an arts and crafts frame of the period.