George A. Lucas
George A. Lucas | |
---|---|
Born | George Aloysius Lucas 1824 Baltimore |
Died | 1909 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Art dealer |
George Aloysius Lucas (1824–1909) was an American-born art dealer living in Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Early years
George A. Lucas, an art collector and agent for American patrons, was born in Baltimore in 1824 as the seventh son of Fielding Lucas Jr., who owned a publishing and stationery company. He attended United States Military Academy at West Point and after graduating in 1845, began working as a civil engineer on railroads in New Jersey. Lucas moved to New York in 1853 and began buying works for his Baltimore friends.[1]
Work
Following the death of his father and older brother, Lucas returned to Baltimore in 1856, only to move to Paris a year later. He lived there on an annuity from his father's estate and worked as an agent for art collectors and dealers in the United States such as
While Lucas had a rapport with many French artists,
Life in Paris
Unlike most of his clients, Lucas had a modest lifestyle. He also paid for the apartment of his long-term mistress Josephine Marchand and her servants; however, their relationship was discreet according to the expert Lilian Randall, who translated and decoded Lucas' diary. Until the 1906 visit of his niece Bertha, Lucas had not seen any member of his family since becoming an expatriate, yet he remained in touch with his family and friends in America through correspondence. As he aged, he became more nostalgic about Baltimore, where he ultimately bequeathed his collection.[2]
Collection
Lucas had a substantial collection, with a large number or prints by
References
- ^ a b c d "Lucas, George A., 1824–1909". Frick Collection. 22 May 2012.
- ^ Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "1905–1960: A fresh Start-Rise of Mount Royal Campus". Maryland Institute College of Art. Archived from the original on 2012-08-10.
- The Diary of George A. Lucas, an American Art Agent in Paris, 1857–1909. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979.
- A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent, 1860–1909. Baltimore: The Walters Art Gallery, 1979.
- John A. Mahey, "The Letters of James McNeill Whistler to George A. Lucas". The Art Bulletin 49 (September 1967): 247–257.
- The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute. Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1965.
- Stanley Mazaroff, "A Paris life, a Baltimore treasure: the remarkable lives of George A. Lucas and his art collection", Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 2018.
External References
- "George A. Lucas" Baltimore Museum of Art.
- “The Night Patrol at Smyrna Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, Paris 1803–1860 Fontainebleau) The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- "Randall, Lilian M[aria] C[harlotte] née Cramer". Dictionary of Art Historians.
- "No Day without a Line, Whistler in the Archives of American Art", October 10, 2003 – January 9, 2004.
- The Baltimore Museum of Art. Annual 1 The Museum: Its First Half Century (Baltimore, Maryland: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966), 18.
- "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840–1940: An Exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art June 6 – September 1, 1941."