Born in St. Louis, MO (1906). Attended Southern Methodist University (1923-25). Moved to New York City (1926). Studied at the Art Students League with Kimon Nicolaides and Boardman Robinson (1927-30). Married to Mary MacDonald (1938-42). Served in the United States Army in the Middle East as an Art Correspondent, with headquarters in Cairo and traveled in North Africa, Palestine and Egypt (1942-45). Married the artist Charlotte Park (1947). Died in East Hampton, NY (1992). Museum exhibitions include James Brooks at the Dallas Museum of Art: A Celebration, Dallas, TX (2006); James Brooks Revisited, Hillwood Art Museum, Brookville, NY (2000); Rediscovering James Brooks: WPA Murals & Other Figural Works, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (1997); James Brooks: A Retrospective, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (1983); and James Brooks Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1963), traveled to Rose Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Washington Gallery of Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C.; University of California Art Galleries, Los Angeles, CA. Selected museum collections include Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.
