James F. Walker

James F. Walker (October 8, 1913 – February 5, 1994) was an American graphic artist, twice named to the 100 Best New Talent List by Art in America. Walker was particularly noted for his mixed media surrealist images, which he called "magic realism". His work has been exhibited in America, as well as in Germany and in France.

Walker joined the army in 1941, serving in the Aleutian Islands until 1945. During the war, he married Leona Buchanan. They had one child, Joy Walker Hall. considered "one of the fathers of twentieth-century American printmaking." Lasansky had brought his printmaking skills and techniques from Stanley William Hayter's New York Atelier 17 to the University of Iowa School of Art and History (1945–1986). "If there is such a thing as a printmaking capital of the U.S., it could well be the Department of Graphic Arts at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City."

After an interval teaching art in Kansas, Walker took a teaching position at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1954–1959).

In 1960, Walker accepted a teaching position at Arlington High School and later at Elk Grove High School, both in Northwest Suburban High School District 214. He retired from teaching in 1975 His painting is a reference to Marcel Duchamp's 1919 painting L.H.O.O.Q. In this work, Duchamp simply painted a mustache and beard onto a postcard reproduction of the Mona Lisa. Walker went further.

A standalone photo in the Chicago Daily Defender called it "a 'kooky' portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower in a Mona Lisa pose…" According to a caption from UPI Telephotos, Walker "titled it L.H. Double O.Q. for what was 'no special reason at all.'" Wide World Photos and UPI Telephotos broadcast photos of L.H. Double O.Q. to the world. Opinions on the piece fell roughly into two categories: "I like Ike," or "I don't like Ike."

Collections

Walker's works are included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Kansas Friends of Art, University of Iowa, and numerous private collections.

Exhibitions

The Chicago Society of Artists Print, Drawing, and Watercolor Show, 1971, Old Town Triangle Center The Union League Club of Chicago, 1963 Cabal: Works of Walker, Wirsum, Malloy, Wetzel, Ortiz, Nichols, Arsenault, Paschke, 1963 (Sedgwick Street Gallery, 401 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) One Man Show, 1963 (Sedgwick Street Gallery, 401 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) Fifty Paintings, Art Institute of Chicago International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawings Important Modern American Drawings Exhibition, The Contemporaries, Inc., New York City 59th Annual Exhibition of Western Art, Denver Art Museum, 1953 First Biennial of Prints, Drawings and Water Colors, Art Institute of Chicago Le Dessin Contemporain Aux Etats-Unis, 1954 (Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Aix-en-Provence; Musée de Grenoble, France) Moderne Maler aus Chicago, Germany Contemporary drawings from 12 countries, 1945–1952 (Art Institute of Chicago [in collaboration with] the Toledo Museum of Art; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; San Francisco Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; the J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville 16th Annual New Year Show, 1951 (Butler Art Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio)

Prizes

100 Best New Talent List, Art in America, 1956 and 1959 Kansas Friends of Art (Purchase Award) Missouri Annual Art Salon 12th annual Missouri Artists Show Award for Collage, Casein, and Drawing, L.H. Double O.Q., 1964 (67th Annual Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago and Vicinity Show) William H. Tuthill Prize for Water Color, Landscape, 1961 (64th Annual Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago and Vicinity Show) Pauline Palmer Prize for Work in any Media, The Creation of Eve, 1957 (60th Annual Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago and Vicinity Show) Pauline Palmer Prize for Drawing, 1955 (58th Annual Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago and Vicinity Show) Contemporary drawings from 12 Countries 1952, The Art Institute of Chicago (Purchase Prize)

Gallery