In the Steerage

Artist George Benjamin Luks American, 1866–1933

Date1900

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions30 5/8 x 19 1/4 in. (77.8 x 48.9 cm)
Original canvas: 30 1/4 x 18 3/4 in. (76.8 x 47.6 cm)
Frame: 36 1/4 x 24 7/8 in. (92.1 x 63.2 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Elizabeth Gibson Taylor and Walter Frank Taylor Fund and the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest)

Object number98.12

On View

On view

Provenance**Created New York, 1900; collection of the artist. [C. W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, 1934]; [Kleeman Galleries, New York, mid-1930s]. [Phillips, New York, March 11, 1981, no. 55, illus.]; [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1981]; Richard Manoogian (b. 1936), Detroit, 1981–1982; [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1982–1983]; private collection; [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1998]; sold to NCMA, 1998.
Published References(Phillips advertisement), Antiques 119 (March 1981), 482, illus. (b-w).

Rita Reif, “Auctions: Oriental wares for the bidding,” The New York Times, March 6, 1981, mentioned C19.

Matthew Baigell, A Concise History of American Painting and Sculpture (New York: Harper & Row, 1984), illus. 203, fig. 202.

Edward H. Madden and Marian C. Madden, “Transcendental Dimensions of American Art,” in Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 32, no. 2 (Spring 1996), mentioned 170.

“George Luks,” North Carolina Museum of Art Preview and Calendar of Events (March/April 1999), 13.

“Museum Acquires Five Important Works,” North Carolina Museum of Art Preview and Calendar of Events (March/April 1999), 10–11, illus. (b-w) 11.

“Art Acquisitions,” North Carolina Museum of Art Annual Report (1998–99), 7, illus. (b-w).

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1574 (March 2000), listed 88.

Ira Wolfman, Jewish New York (New York: Universe Publishing, a division of Rizzoli International Publications, Ltd., 2003), illus. (color) 17.

Jo Cavallo, “The Virtual Art Museum,” Edutopia, published by The George Lucas Educational Foundation (Fall 2003), illus. (color) 7.

Nancy Mowll Mathews, et al, Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880–1910 (exhibition catalogue) (Manchester, VT: Hudson Hill Press in association with Williams College Museum of Art, 2005), mentioned and illus. (color) 52, fig. 64.

CBS News, “Early Film’s Influence on Art,” May 13, 2007, http//www.cbsnews.com/ stories/2007/5/13/sunday/printable2795504.shtml (accessed May 13, 2007).

John W. Coffey, entry for In the Steerage, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 434, illus. (color) 435.

Robert L. Gambone, Lusty Luks: The Art, Life and Times of George Benjamin Luks (Self-published, 2015), briefly discussed 44, illus. (b-w) fig. 11 (following Chapter 3).

Daniel Finamore and George H. Schwartz, “Voyages: Witnessing, Painting, Mythologizing,” in In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting (exhibition catalogue), Daniel Finamore and Austen Barron Bailly, eds. (Fayetteville, AK: University of Arkansas Press, 2021), cat. no. 49, discussed 172, illus. (color) 176, fig. 99.

Bob Siegel, "Steerage (a monologue for Jake)" in “You Are the River: Literature Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art,” edited by Helena Feder (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2021), illus (color) 50.Exhibition HistoryNewark, NJ, The Newark Museum, "The Work of George Benjamin Luks," October 30, 1934-January 6, 1935, no. 1 (lent by Kraushaar Galleries).

New York, NY, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, "Lines of Different Character: American Art from 1727 to 1947," November 13, 1982-January 8, 1983, no. 56, illus. (color).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Objects of Desire: The Museum Collects, 1994-2004," July 18, 2004-February 27, 2005.

Williamstown, MA, Williams College Museum of Art, "Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880-1910," July 16-December 11, 2005; Winston-Salem, NC, Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, March 24-July 16, 2006; New York, Grey Art Gallery, NYU, September 13-December 9, 2006; Washington, DC, Phillips Collection, February 17-May 20, 2007, mentioned and illus. (color) 52, fig. 64.

Salem, MA, Peabody Essex Museum, "In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting," May 29–October 3, 2021; Bentonville, AK, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, November 6, 2021–January 31, 2022, cat. no.49, illus. (color).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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