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James Brooks is a quiet, thoughtful, questing man who depends, for his work, on inner strength and commitment.  He entered the U.S. Army in 1942 at the age of thirty-six and found himself a civilian again in 1946 after two and one-half years in the near East and a final six months in Washington.  That constituted a major break in his paining career, even though he was doing art work in the Army. But the sketches of Army life and operations were far removed from the large murals that established a substantial reputation for him by the late 1930's.  Now, on separation from the service, he had the opportunity to pick up his work in his established field or to reassess his interests and redirect his energies.  His work as a muralist had drawn on earlier studio work, teaching and lettering.  He could again use the same background to do more innovative work, although his ability at murals gave him great assurance.  

At this period in New York City he fortunately was able to resume his contacts with working artists some of whom worked with him on murals lie the famous LaGuardia Airport, "Flight", or who had been on the W.P.A. projects.  Many of these were by now in the forefront of the avant-garde group.  In the Spring of 1942 when Brooks was going into the Army, Marcel Duchamp wanted to see Brooks' work, but he had already packed up to enter the service.  Pollock had his first one-man exhibition in November of 1943, Motherwell in 1944, Rothko in 1945 and Still in 1946.  Among the other artists who were able to continue working and exhibiting during that time were Gorky, Guston, Baziotes, de Kooning, and Kline.  The absence of