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Artist or Maker: George Benjamin Luks (1867-1933)

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Provenance: Kraushaar Galleries, Inc., New York.
Private collection, Wilmington, Delaware.
Christie's, New York, 4 December 1987, lot 263A.
Spanierman Gallery, LLC, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1995.

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Exhibited: Winter Park, Florida, Rollins College, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, The Independents: The Ashcan School & Their Circle From Florida Collections , March 9-May 5, 1996, no. 28.
St. Petersburg, Florida, Museum of Fine Arts, In the American Spirit: Realism and Impressionism from the Lawrence Collection , March 21-June 13, 1999, no. 26.

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Notes: Property from the Samuel B. and Marion W. Lawrence Collection

On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in lots consigned for sale which may include guaranteeing a minimum price or making an advance to the consignor that is secured solely by consigned property. This is such a lot. This indicates both in cases where Christie's holds the financial interest on its own, and in cases where Christie's has financed all or a part of such interest through a third party. Such third parties generally benefit financially if a guaranteed lot is sold successfully and may incur a loss if the sale is not successful.
Celebrated for his portraits and urban scenes, George Luks was also a talented landscape painter. He traveled to Pond Cove on Cape Elizabeth, Maine in 1922 where he was immediately inspired by the harsh and rugged terrain and produced a powerful series of paintings including The Ledge, Cape Elizabeth, Maine . These works contain the vigor and painterly brushstrokes of Luks' best urban images prompting a contemporary critic to comment, "Mr. Luks...marveled at the conflict of the giant ledges valiantly withstanding the onslaughts of the sea, but he has...transferred to his canvases the sense of the contrasting forces and the grandeur of these titans." (as quoted in J. Hardin and V.A. Leeds, In the American Spirit: Realism and Impressionism from the Lawrence Collection , exhibition catalogue, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999, p. 20)