Half-Dozen Eggs (Carton of Eggs)

Inscriptions

Signed, in paint, upper left: Tooker; inscribed, on reverse, in ink, lower right corner: Painted for NAACP / proceeds to go to / NAAACP Legal + Defense Funds / G.T.

Label

As both a queer artist and an American of Cuban descent, George Tooker grew up experiencing multiple forms of discrimination. Through his work, Tooker explores themes of exclusion while frequently imbuing his paintings and print with political commentary. Half Dozen Eggs was created for a civil rights auction held in Hanover in 1963, with proceeds donated to the NAACP. This simple composition of brown and white eggs is actually a powerful vision of future racial integration. By portraying both brown and white eggs in the same container, Tooker seems to suggest that equality should be considered as commonplace as eggs in a carton. This softly rendered painting demonstrates that even as a simple object study can have symbolic, and even historic, undertones.

From the 2020 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 99, When Art Intersects History, curated by Allison Carrey '20, Class of 1954 Intern

Course History

SART 31, SART 72, Painting II, III, Colleen Randall, Spring 2013

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Lucy Mink Covello, Winter 2024

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 99, When Art Intersects History, Allison Carey, Class of 2020, Class of 1954 Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 7-April 26, 2020.

Art of the Civil Rights Movement, Israel Sack Gallery [American Works on Paper Wall], Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 23-November 30, 2014.

George Tooker, Recipient of the 2007 National Medal of Arts, Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 18-June 19, 2008.

In Memoriam, George Tooker, 1920-2011, Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 16, 2011.

Second Annual Civil Rights Art Auction, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 23,1965, no. 56.

Publication History

Thomas H. Garver, George Tooker, Petaluma, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992, ill.p.145, as "Carton of Eggs"

Allison Carey, A Space for Dialogue 99, When Art Intersects History, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2020.

Provenance

Painted by the artist for the Second Annual Civil Rights Art Auction, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, with proceeds to go to the NAACP Legal and Education Defense Fund; sold to Rosalie Leidinger of Norwich, Vermont, May 23,1965; Louise W. Schmidt (1909-1995); given to present collection, 1996.

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Subjects