biography of Augustus Vincent TACK (1870-1949)

Birth place: Pittsburgh, PA

Death place: NYC

Addresses: NYC, 1895; Deerfield, MA

Profession: Painter, muralist, teacher

Studied: Mowbray, La Farge, both in NY, c. 1889-90; Merson, in Paris, early 1890s

Exhibited: SAA, 1889 (prize); NAD, 1895; Boston AC; PAFA Ann., 1895-1906, 1925, 1933-34; AIC, 1899-1934; Corcoran Gal biennials, 1908-39 (9 times); Exh. of Amer. Ptg., Venice, 1924; BMA, 1927, 1934; Venice Biennale, 1930; Amer. Exh., Budapest, 1930; John Herron AI, Indianapolis, 1931; Yale Univ., 1931; Century of Progress Expo., Chicago, 1934; Living Americans," MoMA, 1934; Wildenstein Gal., NYC, 1934; Wash. County Mus. of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD,1938; CI, 1928; Howard Univ. Art Gal., 1940; Abbot Acad., Andover, 1941; "Modern Religious Art," Inst. of Contem. Art, Boston, 1944; Exh. of Amer. Ptg., Tate Gal., London, 1946"

Member: ASL, NY (life); CAFA; New Haven PCC; Century Assn.; Intl. Soc. AL; Arch. Lg., 1900.

Work: MMA; Phillips Collection (large coll.); CMA; Newark Mus.; Speed Mem. Mus., Louisville, Ky.; Murals: Legislative Chamber, New Parliament Bldgs., Winnipeg; Paulist Church, NYC; Chapel of The Cenacle Convent, Newport, RI; St. James Church, South Deerfield, Mass.; dec., Governor's Reception Room, Nebr. State Capitol, Lincoln.

Comments: Tack became a sought-after muralist in the 1920s, painting a number for Catholic churches and government buildings. He was also in high demand and earned much money as a society portraitist, even during the Great Depression, but his abstract paintings were rarely purchased. These mystical and evocative abstract works, mostly painted between WWI and WWII, did attract the attention of Duncan Phillips who bought 28 of them for Wash., DC, Gallery. Tack is said to have inspired Morris Louis and other Washington painters.

Sources: WW40; McMahan, Artists of Washington, DC; Baigell, Dictionary; The American Studies Group, Augustus Vincent Tack, 1870-1949 (1968); The Phillips Collection Catalogue (Washington, DC, 1952); Falk, Exh. Record Series.