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James Brooks

James Brooks

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  • Biography
    View works. James Brooks, Leen, 1974
    Leen, 1974
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    Born in St. Louis, MO (1906). Attended Southern Methodist University (1923-25). Moved to New York City (1926). Studied at the Art Students League with Kimon Nicolaides and Boardman Robinson (1927-30). Married to Mary MacDonald (1938-42). Served in the United States Army in the Middle East as an Art Correspondent, with headquarters in Cairo and traveled in North Africa, Palestine and Egypt (1942-45). Married the artist Charlotte Park (1947). Died in East Hampton, NY (1992). Museum exhibitions include James Brooks at the Dallas Museum of Art: A Celebration, Dallas, TX (2006); James Brooks Revisited, Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville, NY (2000); Rediscovering James Brooks: WPA Murals & Other Figural Works, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (1997); James Brooks: A Retrospective, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (1983); and James Brooks Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1963), traveled to Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Washington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C.; University of California Art Galleries, Los Angeles, CA. Selected museum collections include Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.
    Download Artist's CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
  • Works
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: James Brooks, Leen, 1974

    James Brooks

    Leen, 1974
    Acrylic on canvas
    76 x 76 inches (193 x 193 cm)
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  • Exhibitions
    • installation view

      Small is Beautiful

      2nd Floor Gallery February 6 - April 4, 2025
      Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Small is Beautiful, an exhibition of small-scale works by 22 artists, both familiar and new faces to the gallery’s program. The exhibition features...
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    • James Brooks: Rendez-vous

      James Brooks: Rendez-vous

      Paintings 1972 - 1983: 2nd Floor June 8 - August 19, 2022
      Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present James Brooks: Rendez-vous Paintings 1972 - 1983 , an exhibition of paintings by the exemplary Abstract Expressionist James Brooks. On view from June...
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    • Brooks, Diebenkorn, Goldberg, Sterne, Tworkov: Works from the 1950s

      Brooks, Diebenkorn, Goldberg, Sterne, Tworkov: Works from the 1950s

      Special Presentation: 3rd Floor November 16, 2019 - January 16, 2020
      Read more
    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Painting I Prefer to Know, Works on Canvas from 1950-1958: 3rd Floor March 13 - May 27, 2019
      “The painting surface has always been the rendezvous of what the painter knows with the unknown, which appears on it for the first time.” -James Brooks, 1955 Van Doren Waxter...
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    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Familiar World 1942 – 1982 May 3 - June 23, 2017
      I think my whole tendency has been away from a fast moving line either violent or lyrical into something that is slower and denser and more wandering and unknowing ––...
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    • Go Figure

      Go Figure

      January 11 - February 18, 2017
      Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Go Figure, a group exhibition that explores the intersection of select historical and contemporary artists through the vernacular of figurative painting. Spanning a...
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    • Summer Group Exhibition: Part II

      Summer Group Exhibition: Part II

      James Brooks, Richard Diebenkorn, Al Held, Manny Farber, Alan Shields July 28 - August 29, 2014
      Read more
    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Paintings and Works on Paper 1945–1949 March 5 - April 25, 2014
      Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present James Brooks: Paintings and Works on Paper 1945 - 1949, a solo exhibition featuring paintings and works on paper by James Brooks (1906...
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    • Unlikely Friends: James Brooks & Dan Flavin

      Unlikely Friends: James Brooks & Dan Flavin

      January 5 - February 18, 2012
      Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present Unlikely Friends: James Brooks & Dan Flavin , a two-person exhibition featuring works on paper and canvas by James Brooks and fluorescent...
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    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Geometry and Gesture: Selected Works from 1968 - 1979 October 29 - December 23, 2009
      Solo exhibition Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by the late abstract expressionist James Brooks (1906 -1992). This is the...
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    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Black and White + Color February 21 - March 29, 2008
      Reception: February 21, 5 - 7 PM Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present a focused thematic exhibition of paintings by the late American abstract expressionist James Brooks (1906...
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    • Pre-Post

      Pre-Post

      American Abstraction 1940s - 60s October 11 - November 11, 2006
      Baziotes • Bluhm • Brooks • DeFeo • De Kooning • Diebenkorn • Francis Frankenthaler • Gorky • Guston • Held • Hofmann • Kamrowski • Krasner Mitchell • Motherwell...
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    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      A Survey of Small Paintings November 16 - December 23, 2005
      Solo exhibition Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of small paintings by the late American abstract expressionist James Brooks (1906 – 1992). This is the first...
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    • Tête à Tête

      Tête à Tête

      June 8 - July 8, 2005
      Group exhibition Jennifer Bartlett ~ Louise Belcourt ~ James Brooks ~ Tim Davis ~ Richard Diebenkorn Anthony Caro ~ Sharon Ellis ~ Paul Feeley ~ Mark Grotjahn ~ Wade Guyton...
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    • Black & White

      Black & White

      July 28 - September 18, 2004
      Group exhibition James Brooks Jessica Craig-Martin Richard Diebenkorn Benjamin Edwards Paul Graham Katy Grannan Malerie Marder Cameron Martin Marilyn Minter Dorothea Rockburne Sebastián Romo Aïda Ruilova Alexis Smith Greenberg Van...
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    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Selected Paintings 1960 - 85 October 8 - November 15, 2003
      Artemis · Greenberg Van Doren · Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by the late American abstract expressionist James Brooks (1906 – 1992). This is the first...
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  • News
  • Publications
    • James Brooks

      James Brooks

      Paintings and Works on Paper 1945 – 1949 March 2014
      Online Book, Softcover, 32 pages
      Read more
    • cover of a book

      James Brooks

      Familiar World 1942 – 1982 2017
      Book, Softcover; 32 pages
      ISBN: 978-0-9908058-6-1
      Read more
    • cover of a book

      James Brooks

      Black and White + Color 2008
      Book, Softcover, 23 pages
      ISBN: 0-9801259-0-1
      Read more
    • cover of a book

      James Brooks

      A Survey of Small Paintings 2005
      Book, Softcover, 36 pages
      ISBN: 0-9717484-9-7
      Read more
    • cover of a book

      James Brooks

      Selected Works 1960 – 1985 Essay by Sarah K. Rich, 2003
      Book, Softcover; 32 pages
      ISBN: 0-917484-4-6
      Read more
    • cover of a book

      James Brooks & Dan Flavin

      Unlikely Friends 2012
      Book, Softcover, 19 pages
      ISBN: 0-9717484-9-7
      Read more
  • Art fairs
    • Independent 20th Century

      Independent 20th Century

      September 7 - October 10, 2023
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    • Dallas Art Fair

      Dallas Art Fair

      April 21 - 24, 2022
      Caetano de Almeida James Brooks Marsha Cottrell Richard Diebenkorn Jeronimo Elespe Jessie Henson Hans Hofmann Volker Hüller Robert Motherwell Joshua Nathanson Evan Nesbit Harvey Quaytman...
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  • Press
    • James Brooks: Rendez-vous Paintings 1972–1983

      By Robert Morgan, The Brooklyn Rail, July 1, 2022
    • James Brooks at Van Doren Waxter, New York

      ArtInfo, May 11, 2017
    • In Praise of Unfashionable Art, Or Let the Artwork Convince You Not the Artist’s Brand

      Artnet News, March 28, 2014
    • The Unruffled Irascible

      by Carter Ratcliff, Art & Antiques, November 1, 2013
    • Unlikely Friends: James Brooks & Dan Flavin

      Brooklyn Rail, February 1, 2012
    • James Brooks and Dan Flavin at Greenberg Van Doren

      Village Voice, January 11, 2012
    • Eye to Eye: An Exhibition Celebrates the Artistic Friendship of James Brooks and Dan Flavin

      Vogue.com, January 5, 2012
    • Homage to an Art-World Odd Couple

      The Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2011
    • James Brooks

      ARTnews, September 8, 2008
    • James Brooks

      The New Yorker, March 24, 2008
    • Self-Possessed Passion

      James Brooks: Black and White + Color
      The New York Sun, March 6, 2008
    • Best in Show

      by R.C. Baker, The Village Voice, March 4, 2008

Van Doren Waxter, 23 East 73rd Street New York, NY 10021

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