Coney Island

Coney Island, painted in 1948, represents a benchmark in Tooker's career by establishing the signature style of his mature work. Influenced by Reginald Marsh, Tooker paints many similar subjects depicting Coney Island Coney Island. T.H. Garver describes Coney Island as a "a series of individual compositional elements, each rather static in isolation but given vitality by their juxtaposition and ordering." In this work, the triangular-formed groupings, the perspective between pier and foreground, and the contrasts of light and dark contribute to the vibrancy of the scene. Tooker was also influenced by the Mexican-American painter Julio Castellanos for his "quality of the celebration of life," which is much in evidence here.
Tooker intended this work to be a "happy picture" and indeed the antics of the beach goers in the background reflect this mood. He features Marsh in the crowd on the pier and the two boys at the extreme left and right are probably the artist himself. Yet, the artist does not forget the more serious side of human nature as the figures in the foreground demonstrate. Some seem distracted or lost in thought and are dominated by shadow in contrast to the sunlit bodies on the pier. Yet an intentional sensuality emanates from the figures. The couple in the lower portion of the painting resembles a "modern pieta", an image which recurs in Tooker's work. Micing pathos and humor, Coney Island stands as an early masterwork from twentieth century realism.