Background
Tucker was born to Bertha Hampton and William Tucker in Toronto, Canada, on November 2, 1894, and was the second of three sons.
Tucker was born to Bertha Hampton and William Tucker in Toronto, Canada, on November 2, 1894, and was the second of three sons.
He received acclaim in the 1950s after several exhibitions, including a showing at the Smithsonian, but chose to protect his amateur status and to keep the paintings in his family.
He was primarily known for his portraits of Hollywood celebrities, but many would contend that his finest works were of the things he loved most: his family, everyday items from his Long Island home and quiet countryside scenes. Many of his paintings are unsigned. Tucker’s Geraniums was shown at The Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia as a part of the American Artists Professional League, American Art Week Exhibition in 1963.
Tucker also exhibited at several shows in the New York City area.
Spurgeon Tucker’s celebrity portraits include Anne Jeffries (as Kate, in Kiss Maine Kate), 1950 Uta Hagen as Saint Joan (painting was reproduced on the cover of the large program during her Broadway run, and on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine), 1951 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to benefit the New York Heart Cardiac Fund, 1952 Diana Barrymore (painting was reproduced on the book jacket of her book Too Much Too Soon and was displayed at the Museum of the City of New York), 1957 B. Doctorate. Hyman, Bette Davis"s daughter, age 6 (Bachelor's Degree mentions sitting for the portrait in her book, My Mother"s Keeper) Hetty Green (painted posthumously for the play Put Them All Together, starring Fay Bainter and Kay Medford, was over the mantle on the set, and during the curtain calls where the painting took a bow) 1963 Carlos Montelban Clare Boothe Luce (as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew) Danton Walker, the Daily News Broadway columnist Ethel Thorson.