[1][2] His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, but the images use flat tones, an ambiguous perspective, and alarming juxtapositions to suggest an imagined or dreamed reality.

[3] He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard University with an English degree in 1942, after which he enlisted in the Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps), but was discharged for medical reasons.

Kenneth Hayes Miller influenced Tooker's work by encouraging the emphasis on form rather than expressive emotion to convey a painting's meaning.

Tooker regarded Harry Sternberg a good teacher at the League due to his pointed, challenging questions.

He spent much of his free time reading painting and sculpture books, studying the works of antiquity up to 20th-century art in an effort to augment his artistic vision.

[2] Early in his career, Tooker's work was often compared with painters such as Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and his close friends Jared French and Paul Cadmus.

Modernity's anonymity, mass-production, and fast pace are cast under an unforgiving, bleak, shadow-less light that conveys a sense of foreboding and isolation.

These images convey a sense of overwhelming silence in the lack of control each individual portrayed has over their depicted situation.

The people Tooker depicts are rarely overcome by emotion, never strut, and seldom convey individuality.

In Supermarket (1973),[10] nondescript shoppers are surrounded by brightly packaged consumables as easily replicated as the people themselves.

The space is often compressed by a curtain or close-up wall, so that the viewer is confronted by the symbolic identity of the protagonist.

Paper lanterns are also a common motif in Tooker's "private" works, often being shared amongst individuals, beacons of soft, warm light that present a pleasant mood to the entire scene.

Girl Praying (1977), Orant (1977), Lovers (1982),[16] and Embrace II (1984) are uplifting in their portrayal of genuine spiritual connection.

In 1974, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco organized a retrospective called "George Tooker: Paintings, 1947-1973."

"[5] His works are particularly impactful because they are so simple and relate to everyday experiences in such a way that the viewer is forced to become more critically aware of their existence.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, Tooker's work was widely appreciated, but fell out of the spotlight when Abstract expressionism gained popularity.

Themes his works focus on include love, death, sex, grief, aging, alienation, and religious faith.

[17] He devoted numerous paintings to a single theme, investigating many possible variations to fully express the complex ideas conveyed.

[18] In the mid-1950s Tooker met his long time partner, painter William R. Christopher, and they lived together in New York City.