The Fire Boss
1925
Painter, American, 1866 - 1933

Painted during a period of labor unrest in 1925, The Fire Boss was intended as a life-size personification of a profession rather than a portrait of a specific individual. Despite his downcast, bedraggled appearance, the miner exudes defiance and inner resolve. George Luks admired miners, and many aspects of the painting indicate that he was familiar with their lifestyle and equipment. The Fire Boss served as the centerpiece of a well-attended exhibition of Luks’s work at the Pottsville Free Public Library in October 1925. The event stirred considerable interest in an area where almost half of the local population consisted of miners and their families. The Fire Boss is a compelling image that arouses sympathy and admiration for the American laborer.
Luks was raised in the heart of Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region and spent his youth in the mining town of Shenandoah, in northern Schuylkill County. He later worked at a drugstore in Pottsville before moving to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Luks’s father was a physician who often tended to the needs of the impoverished and striking miners and was sympathetic to their plight. Luks always had an emotional bond with the area and regarded it as his home. In the 1920s the artist made regular summer painting trips to Pottsville, during which he produced many images of life in the mines.
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 153.1 x 128 cm (60 1/4 x 50 3/8 in.)
framed: 181 x 156.2 x 6.4 cm (71 1/4 x 61 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.) -
Accession
1954.2.1
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist [1866-1933]; his estate; (his estate sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 5 April 1950, no. 80).[1] Hildegarde [née Hildegard Loretta Sell, 1906-2005] and Anna Sosenko [1909-2000], New York; (their sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 6 January 1954, no. 42); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1954 to NGA.
[1] 1954 sale catalogue incorrectly lists this sale as taking place in 1940. The painting sold for $400.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1925
Recent Paintings, Water-colors and Drawings Done in the Anthracite Coal Regions of Pennsylvania by George Luks, Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries, New York, November 1925, no. 1.
Public Library, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, October 1925.
1926
Paintings, Sculpture and Prints in the Department of Fine Arts: Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1926, no. 466.
1935
Loan to display with permanent collection, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1935-1936.
1951
Collection of Hildegarde and Anna Sosenko, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 1951, no catalogue.
1965
The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
Bibliography
1959
Bouton, Margaret. American Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number One in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 38, color repro.
1965
Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 60, repro.
1969
Prown, Jules David. American Painting, From its Beginnings to the Armory Show. Geneva, 1969: 129, color repro.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 80, repro.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 196, repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 207, color repro. 221.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 572, no. 874, color repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 229, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right: George Luks / Pottsville. Pa.
Wikidata ID
Q20192567