Signed and inscribed, “Ryder Mills”, l.r.
Also inscribed on the reverse, “Old Schoolhouse Ryders/Berk. Hills/130”
Watercolor on paper
14 x 20 inches

Provenance
Harris M. Steinberg
Frank K. M. Rehn, New York
Daniel and Rita Fraad, New York, since 1957

Exhibition
New York, Frank K. M. Rehn, Water Colors by George Luks, November – December 1957, no. 6
Brooklyn, New York, The Brooklyn Museum
Andover, Massachusetts, Addison Gallery of American Art, American Painting: Selections from the Collection of Daniel and Rita Fraad, June – November 1964, no. 49, p. 59, illus.

Old Schoohouse, Ryders
By Valerie Ann Leeds

George Luks, brash and independent, was highly regarded by colleagues for his virtuoso artistic mastery. Especially noted for his representations of coarse figurative and urban genre scenes, he did not gain early approbation from critics or the public. Rejection of his work from the 1907 National Academy of Design annual exhibition was a significant contributing event in galvanizing Robert Henri to plan the alternative exhibition of the insurgent artists that became known as The Eight, among which Luks was included.

By the teens, Luks turned to depicting less controversial subjects and adopted a more refined technique. Over the course of the next decade, he began to receive greater mainstream acceptance, garnering a number of major awards. In his later years he turned away from city subjects and executed few of the picturesque street characters on which his early reputation was founded as his subjects became more rural and oriented toward landscape, as in Old Schoolhouse, Ryders. (1) Also at this time, he began to increasingly turn to watercolor, in which he developed an original style, defined by an assured technique combined with clear bold, nearly opaque, color.

In 1925, Luks acquired a farmhouse and land in Old Chatham, New York, at the edge of the Berkshire Mountains, which he used as a summer retreat, as pictured in My House, Berkshire Hills (c. 1931; The Canton Museum of Art, Ohio). In the ensuing years, he produced a number of watercolors depicting the picturesque pastoral local surroundings in this style characterized by its clarity, unwavering line, and pronounced contrasts. Old Schoolhouse, Ryders depicts the historic brick local schoolhouse dating from the nineteenth century, which is still in use today. It is located in the historic district of Riders Mills, at the corner of Riders Mills and Drowne Roads, several miles from Luks’ farm in Old Chatham. (2) Combining dark tones and outlines with pale washes, his watercolor pairs a loose painterly technique with a strong sense of control and careful draftsmanship.

Luks actively produced and exhibited his watercolors through the later twenties until his death. It was a medium in which he became highly skilled. His watercolors received recognition in his lifetime and continue to garner contemporary acclaim.
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1. The artist misspelled “Ryders.” It should be Riders Mills.
2. Robert Leary, president of the Riders Mills Historical Association, conversation with the author (7 June 2005).