Gritty, virile street scenes, tender portraits of humanity, iridescent landscapes: George Luks depicted early 20th century New York with astonishing versatility.
But if there’s one Luks painting that combines all three artistic strengths, it might be The Butcher Cart, which this social realist Ashcan artist completed in 1901.
“George Luks is known for his unromanticized depictions of the slums and crowded market streets of lower Manhattan,” explains the Art Institute of Chicago, which owns the painting.
“In The Butcher Cart, he portrayed a dark view of New York street life, frankly acknowledging modern technology and class stratification,” “An old-fashioned horse-drawn cart packed with butchered pigs lumbers down a slushy street, steered by a man hunched over the reins.”
Tags: George Luks, George Luks Ashcan School, George Luks Lower East Side, George Luks New York City, George Luks The Butcher Cart, Lower East Side in Art, New York in the Early 20th century street scenes
Ephemeral New York 
January 21, 2019 at 10:12 am |
Whew the smell on that as it passed by! No wonder the dog’s following.
January 21, 2019 at 2:18 pm |
I remember the 1950s when I was a little boy my mother always took me to the pushcarts that lined Ave C on the Lower East Side, where she would do her shopping, food and various needed household objects. A few times a tired horse and dilapidated carriage stood by, I recall the sleeping horse standing there. Thanks for bringing that distant memory back.
January 21, 2019 at 7:44 pm |
Hi Mick, you’ve mentioned the vendors on Avenue C before…how different the street is today.
January 23, 2019 at 8:22 pm |
Thanks Mick. I’ve seen horse drawn milk wagons in Canada in the fifties.
January 21, 2019 at 4:14 pm |
I love these paintings you post. This one is really IT
January 21, 2019 at 7:43 pm |
It’s a new one for me and I agree, it’s everything! Luks really captured something timeless here.
January 22, 2019 at 3:21 am |
Where’s this done? I recognize an elevated line behind it.
January 23, 2019 at 1:59 am |
I wonder when most of that stuff was torn down? I know a few tenements still stand there.