Portrait of George Aloysius Lucas . Leon Bonnat
George A. Lucas (1824-1909) of Baltimore sailed to Europe in 1857, never to return to America. During his long residence in Paris, he supplemented his private income by representing the interests of a number of American collectors, including William T. Walters of Baltimore and Samuel P. Avery of New York. In a preface to a publication of 1885, Walters wrote of Lucas, "The debt I owe him for his good judgment, mature experience and cheerful co-operation in nearly all I have accomplished as amateur and collector, I find only less than the value I place upon his sterling truth, and upon his worth as a man and a friend."
1885
oil on canvas
Height: 129 cm (50.8 in). Width: 92.5 cm (36.4 in). ;
with frame: Height: 163.8 cm (64.5 in). Width: 126.4 cm (49.8 in). Depth: 11.4 cm (4.5 in).
Walters Art Museum
Accession number 37.759
Place of creation Paris, France
Object history
1885: commissioned by William T. Walters, Baltimore
1885: purchased by William T. Walters, Baltimore
[from the artist]
1894: inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore
1931: bequeathed to Walters Art Museum by Henry Walters
Exhibition history A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, 1860-1909. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979. The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984. A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of Nineteenth Century French Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 2006.
Credit line Commissioned by William T. Walters, 1885
Inscriptions Signature and date bottom left: Ln Bonnat / 1885
