Location

208 American Gilded Age and Realism

Fun Fact

Luks often boasted about being an amateur boxing champion, but this was later revealed to be a tall tale.

Description

A sun-dappled scene of middle-class leisure, Holiday on the Hudson is an atypical work by Luks, who more often turned to gritty tenement subjects for inspiration. Throughout his career, the painter fashioned himself as a brash, profane, and hard-drinking antagonist to New York’s genteel art-world establishment. The museum purchased this work just four months before the artist was beaten to death in the wake of a speakeasy argument.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower right: George Luks

Provenance

(C. W. Kraushaar Galleries, New York).

Citations

C. Owen Lublin, "Arts and Decoration," Town and Country (1 February 1916), vol. 39. pp. 20-21, illus. p. 21

Francis, Henry S. "Memorial Note on a Picture by George Luks." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXIII, no.1 (January, 1934): 6-8. Reproduced: p. 2 www.jstor.org

Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936. cat. no. 363, listed p. 134-135, not illus.

Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of an Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [Printed by the Artcraft Printing Co.], 1937. cat. no. 127, listed p. 32, not illus.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 547 archive.org

The Beauty of America in Great American Art: With Selections from the Writings of Renowned American Authors. Waukesha, WS. : Country Beautiful Foundation in association with W. Morrow, New York,1965. Reproduced: p. 104

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 190 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 190 archive.org

Adams, Celeste, Rita Myers, and Adele Z. Silver. An Introduction to American Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972. Mentioned: p. 16-17; Reproduced: p. 16

"A Check List: American Paintings and Water Colors of the Eighteen, Nineteenth, and Early Twentieth Centuries in The Cleveland Museum of Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art LX, no.1 (January, 1973): 21-35. Reproduced: p. 30, fig. 125

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Toledo Museum of Art. Heritage and Horizon: American Painting, 1776-1976 : Toledo, OH: Toledo Museum of Art, 1976. Reproduced: p. 51

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 237 archive.org

Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993 Reproduced: p. 137

Gambone, Robert L. Lusty Luks: The Art, Life and Times of George Benjamin Luks. San Bernardino,CA : Robert L. Gambone, 2015. Mentioned: P. 6, 72-73, 83; reproduced: fig. 2

| Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. Reproduced: p. 18 archive.org

Exhibition history

New York, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, An Important Collection of Paintings and Bronzes by Modern Masters of American and European Art (3 December-31 December 1921), cat. no. 6, illus.

New York, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by George Luks (8 January-27 January 1923); cat. no. 28, not illus.

New York, Radio City assembled by The College Art Association, (May, 1933) Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Artists of the Philadelphia Press (14 October-18 November 1945), pp. 5-15, cat. no. 24, not illus., includes essays by John Sloan and Everett Shin; catalogue in The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin (November, 1945), vol. XLI, no. 207. (16 June-16 July 1933), The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art (June, 1933), pp. 98-102, listed p. 101.

Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Institute, Sports and Adventure in American Art (15 February-30 March 1947), cat. no. 50, not illus.

Palm Beach, Fla, The Society of the Four Arts, From Plymouth Rock to the Armory (9 February-5 March 1950), cat. no. 45, not illus.

Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, Two Hundred Years of American Painting (8 March-3 April 1955), cat. no. 38, illus.

Oxford, OH, Miami University, Sesquicentennial Celebration (15 May-15 June 1959)

San Diego, The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, Modern American Painting: 1915 (6 December 1962-6 January 1963), cat. no. 30, pp. 5-9, listed p. 18, illus. on back of catalogue.

Utica, New York, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, George Luks 1866-1933: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings Dating from 1889 to 1931 (1 April-20 May 1973); pp. 5-9, 14-19, cat. no. 83, listed p. 49, illus. p. 15.

Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Heritage and Horizon: American Painting, 1776-1976 (6 March-11 April 1976); traveled to Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts (5 May-13 June 1976); to Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art (4 July-15 August 1976); to Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art (8 September-10 October 1976); cat. no. 37.

Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum, Painters of a New Century: The Eight & American Art (6 September-3 November 1991); traveled to Denver, The Denver Art Museum (7 December 1991-16 February 1992); to Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada (16 April-7 June 1992); to Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum (26 June-21 September 1992); cat. no. 82, listed p. 179, illus. p. 14.

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).

Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

The Eight. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 9-March 4, 1944).

What Was the Armory Show?. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 27-September 15, 1963).

George Luks 1866-1933: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings Dating from 1889 to 1931. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (organizer) (April 1-May 20, 1973).

Heritage and Horizon: American Painting 1776 - 1976. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (March 7-April 11, 1976); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (May 2-June 13, 1976); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (July 4-August 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 8-October 10, 1976).