Skip to main content
Artwork

Warren Roark

Eugene Thomason

1895-1972

Warren Roark

Oil on canvas

30 1/4 in x 36 1/8 in

1936

Label:

While working in Charlotte during the 1930s, Thomason did several portrait commissions of area businessmen and a professor at his alma mater, Davidson College. More a character study than formal portrait, this likeness of Warren Roark, a retired cotton inspector, was included in Thomason’s 1937 exhibition at the Mint Museum of Art. It is more a character study than a formal portrait.

“Gus,” as he was known, was something of a fixture around Thomason’s studio, and the depiction is hardly flattering. Roark appears brooding, and his body language indicates fatigue. According to the artist, Gus “was always gloomy without a drink.” On the left side of the composition balancing the figure is an artfully painted still life showing a liquor bottle and a glass—a clue to how Roark passed his time in the artist’s company.

As Published In:

From New York to Nebo: The Artistic Journey of Eugene Thomason, 2014

As Exhibited In:

From New York to Nebo: The Artistic Journey of Eugene Thomason, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, October 11, 2014–January 3, 2015, Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, SC, February 12–April 19, 2015, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC, May 16–September 13, 2015, Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte, NC, November 21, 2015–March 17, 2016, Florence County Museum, Florence, SC, January 10–May 28, 2017

Art for Life’s Sake: Ashcan Realism of the South, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, December 15, 2011–February 16, 2012

Other Artworks by This Artist

Artist's Full Bio