George Tooker
George Tooker was an American painter known for egg-tempera scenes of offices, subways, and waiting rooms, often centered on isolation and social tension.
Painter
Robert Vickrey
Robert Vickrey was a painter and illustrator known for egg-tempera works combining observation and symbolism, plus watercolor and gouache paintings.
Robert Vickrey quick facts
Vickrey painted detailed, symbolic scenes in egg tempera and produced illustrations for Time magazine, alongside work in acrylic, watercolor, and gouache.
| Full name | Robert Vickrey |
|---|---|
| Born | 1926 · New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | 2011 · Naples, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Magic Realism |
| Paint types | Egg tempera |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Painting board · Paper · Cardboard and paperboard |
| Painting methods | Meticulously detailed egg-tempera painting on rigid boards |
| Common subjects | Figures, nuns, landscapes, portraits, and symbolic scenes |
| Notable works | Fear · After the Rain · Walter Cronkite |
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian: Fear, Frye Art Museum: After the Rain, National Portrait Gallery: Walter Cronkite, Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art: Robert Vickrey works, and Archives of American Art.
Paint types used by Robert Vickrey
Smithsonian records identify Vickrey's meticulous Fear (1954) as egg tempera on paperboard, specifying the binder and support for this work.
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Egg tempera
The Smithsonian identifies Vickrey’s Fear (1954) as egg tempera on paperboard and describes his meticulous, finely detailed tempera practice. He built controlled passages over a prepared surface, using the medium for precise, illusionistic scenes. Paperboard is the support, not part of the paint binder.
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum: Fear, Smithsonian American Art Museum: Robert Vickrey.; Frye Art Museum: After the Rain; Archives of American Art: Robert Vickrey papers
Painting surfaces used by Robert Vickrey
Robert Vickrey's documented works use painting board and paper; examples clarify whether each is the painted ground, support, or part of the object.
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Painting Board
Vickrey painted on rigid board, including the Smithsonian’s Fear (1954), cataloged as egg tempera on paperboard. The stable support carries his carefully detailed imagery and is distinct from the paper and cardboard formats documented for other works. The record identifies the panel as part of the painted construction.
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Paper
Vickrey also made drawings and painted works on paper. The flexible sheet provides a portable support for studies and detailed compositions, distinct from the rigid paperboard panels used for many of his egg-tempera paintings. The collection record names the sheet as the work’s documented support.
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Cardboard
Cardboard and paperboard support selected works and studies by Vickrey. The lightweight, rigid sheets provide a prepared ground for finely controlled imagery; museum records identify these materials for specific works, rather than allowing the support to be inferred from his medium.
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian: Fear, Frye Art Museum: After the Rain, National Portrait Gallery: Walter Cronkite, Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art: Robert Vickrey works.
Painters similar to Robert Vickrey
Vickrey's egg tempera and precise figures connect him to painters exploring symbolic realism, careful observation, and layered work on rigid supports.
Paul Cadmus
Paul Cadmus was an American painter known for figurative social satire, sustained egg tempera, and casein, watercolor, and gouache studies on paper.
Michael Bergt
Michael Bergt is an American painter known for egg-tempera figures on panels, often paired with acrylic or gold leaf and imagery drawn from mythology.
John Wilde
John Wilde was an American Magic Realist known for intricate oil paintings on wooden panels, depicting surreal figures, animals, and imagined worlds.
Jared French
Jared French was an American painter known for precise egg-tempera pictures of figures and symbolic scenes, and associated with Magic Realism.
Mavis Smith
Mavis Smith is an American painter known for luminous egg-tempera portraits built in translucent layers on gesso panels and atmospheric oil paintings.