Biography - Family Background
Edwin George Lucas was born in Leith on 30 March 1911. He was the second of three children and grew up in Juniper Green, a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh. He attended Juniper Green Primary School and then George Heriot's School in Edinburgh.
He showed talent in drawing and painting at an early age and won the Art Drawing prize in his final year at school, but his parents dissuaded him from pursuing a career in art. This was due to the fate of his uncle, Edward George Handel Lucas (1861-1936), who is now a well regarded Victorian artist, but struggled to make a decent living and lived the latter part of his life in poverty. Indeed Edwin's parents often had to subsidise "Uncle Handel" and must have feared the same happening to Edwin had he become a professional artist.
He showed talent in drawing and painting at an early age and won the Art Drawing prize in his final year at school, but his parents dissuaded him from pursuing a career in art. This was due to the fate of his uncle, Edward George Handel Lucas (1861-1936), who is now a well regarded Victorian artist, but struggled to make a decent living and lived the latter part of his life in poverty. Indeed Edwin's parents often had to subsidise "Uncle Handel" and must have feared the same happening to Edwin had he become a professional artist.
Early Career
Instead he sat the Civil Service entrance exam and joined the Estate Duty Office (EDO) in Edinburgh in 1930. He studied at Edinburgh University in his early years in the EDO and graduated as a Bachelor of Law in 1934.
Nevertheless he was a very active artist in his spare time. During the early 1930s he worked almost exclusively in watercolours, mainly painting outdoors, with a strong emphasis on the landscapes close to the family home in Juniper Green. His style was fairly traditional and led to him being described in 2012 as "a skilled but rather safe landscape painter"[1] at that stage of his career.
He had his first work accepted for exhibition by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) in 1933. This was followed by regular exhibits at the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA), starting in 1934.
In the mid-1930s he became friends with a group of students at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA).[2] The first point of contact was Anne Smith, who he met at the local tennis club. Anne introduced him to a wider group including Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, who later became a prominent member of the St Ives group that played a significant role in the development of British modernist art. Perhaps this contact with other artists encouraged a greater commitment to his own art. He joined the SSA as a lay member in 1936 and attended life drawing evening classes at ECA from 1936-1938.
His style became a bit more adventurous and he started experimenting with oil paints, but his principal medium was still watercolour. A painting of his in the SSA exhibition of 1937 attracted attention in France from La Revue Moderne des Arts et de la Vie, and they published a flattering revue.[3]
Nevertheless he was a very active artist in his spare time. During the early 1930s he worked almost exclusively in watercolours, mainly painting outdoors, with a strong emphasis on the landscapes close to the family home in Juniper Green. His style was fairly traditional and led to him being described in 2012 as "a skilled but rather safe landscape painter"[1] at that stage of his career.
He had his first work accepted for exhibition by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) in 1933. This was followed by regular exhibits at the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA), starting in 1934.
In the mid-1930s he became friends with a group of students at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA).[2] The first point of contact was Anne Smith, who he met at the local tennis club. Anne introduced him to a wider group including Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, who later became a prominent member of the St Ives group that played a significant role in the development of British modernist art. Perhaps this contact with other artists encouraged a greater commitment to his own art. He joined the SSA as a lay member in 1936 and attended life drawing evening classes at ECA from 1936-1938.
His style became a bit more adventurous and he started experimenting with oil paints, but his principal medium was still watercolour. A painting of his in the SSA exhibition of 1937 attracted attention in France from La Revue Moderne des Arts et de la Vie, and they published a flattering revue.[3]
Surrealist Phase
In the Summer of 1939 Edwin started subletting Barns-Graham's studio at 5 Alva Street, Edinburgh. This was the first time he had a dedicated space to paint in and it led to dramatic changes in his artistic practice. He started working mainly in oils rather than watercolours and his style and subject matter embraced Surrealism.
This happened just a few weeks after the New Era Group held an exhibition of Surrealist works at Gladstone's Land in Edinburgh. The group included William Gear, Tom Pow and Joseph Forrester, all of whom were friends of Barns-Graham at ECA. It seems likely that Edwin attended this exhibition and it's tempting to think that the exhibition, or other contact with Barns-Graham's circle of friends, provided a catalyst for his interest in Surrealism.[2]
This happened just a few weeks after the New Era Group held an exhibition of Surrealist works at Gladstone's Land in Edinburgh. The group included William Gear, Tom Pow and Joseph Forrester, all of whom were friends of Barns-Graham at ECA. It seems likely that Edwin attended this exhibition and it's tempting to think that the exhibition, or other contact with Barns-Graham's circle of friends, provided a catalyst for his interest in Surrealism.[2]
He produced numerous Surrealist paintings and drawings during the period 1939 to 1941. Some of them make overt references to common Surrealist themes such as dreams and Freudian psychoanalysis. Others borrow from the styles of René Magritte or Salvador Dalí, or hint at the use of automatic drawing as a technique to channel subconscious thought.
He later referred to this period as "a brief flirtation with Surrealism".[4] Surrealist elements remained a very important part of his work thereafter, but he stopped regarding himself as aligned to the Surrealist movement. He preferred to think of himself as "a purely individual painter".[5] However, he acknowledged that his flirtation with Surrealism had been "a greatly liberating experience in both content (subject matter) and treatment".[4]
He later referred to this period as "a brief flirtation with Surrealism".[4] Surrealist elements remained a very important part of his work thereafter, but he stopped regarding himself as aligned to the Surrealist movement. He preferred to think of himself as "a purely individual painter".[5] However, he acknowledged that his flirtation with Surrealism had been "a greatly liberating experience in both content (subject matter) and treatment".[4]
World War II
Edwin was a committed pacifist throughout his life and was a conscientious objector during the Second World War. He was assigned to do hospital work and his postings can be traced through watercolour landscapes he painted in his free time. He was at Killearn Hospital in Stirlingshire in 1943 and Raigmore Hospital near Inverness in early 1944.
Later that year he was posted to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. He resumed his studio life at 5 Alva Street and met the Polish artist Aleksander Zyw who had the adjacent studio.
Later that year he was posted to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. He resumed his studio life at 5 Alva Street and met the Polish artist Aleksander Zyw who had the adjacent studio.
Artistic Maturity
The immediate post-war years were a very creative and prolific time for Edwin. He returned to work for the Estate Duty Office, but regarded himself as a serious painter who had a day job to fund his art. This gave him freedom to follow his own path, rather than being forced to conform to the somewhat conservative tastes of the Scottish art market at the time.
For him "the purpose of art was the enlargement of experience and, in painting, that meant continual innovation and the refusal to create a personal style by self repetition".[4] This led him to produce unorthodox, experimental work, much of which is unlike anything his contemporaries were doing.
He enrolled again for life drawing evening classes at ECA from 1944-1946. He continued to submit works to the SSA and the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) open exhibitions, but complained later that "these bodies consistently rejected anything that he regarded as original work".[4] He terminated his membership of the SSA in 1948, probably in frustration.
For him "the purpose of art was the enlargement of experience and, in painting, that meant continual innovation and the refusal to create a personal style by self repetition".[4] This led him to produce unorthodox, experimental work, much of which is unlike anything his contemporaries were doing.
He enrolled again for life drawing evening classes at ECA from 1944-1946. He continued to submit works to the SSA and the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) open exhibitions, but complained later that "these bodies consistently rejected anything that he regarded as original work".[4] He terminated his membership of the SSA in 1948, probably in frustration.
In April 1950 he organised a solo exhibition at the New Gallery, Shandwick Place, Edinburgh. He exhibited 73 oils and 21 watercolours, produced between 1936 and 1950. There was some press coverage. The Evening Dispatch twice printed captioned photographs. The Scotsman printed a review that praised his draughtsmanship but found much of the work "individual in the wrong way".[6]
In August of the following year he held another exhibition at the New Gallery, of New Paintings. There were 58 works, all oils, 23 of which were newly painted, others painted a few years earlier but not exhibited before, and a few that appeared the previous year. This exhibition took place during the Edinburgh Festival and received very little attention, probably eclipsed by all the other events taking place during the Festival.
A couple of the 1951 works exhibit a move away from representational forms towards a more geometric form of abstraction. He developed this theme further in some of his 1952 works, but other events were about to take precedence over his art.
In August of the following year he held another exhibition at the New Gallery, of New Paintings. There were 58 works, all oils, 23 of which were newly painted, others painted a few years earlier but not exhibited before, and a few that appeared the previous year. This exhibition took place during the Edinburgh Festival and received very little attention, probably eclipsed by all the other events taking place during the Festival.
A couple of the 1951 works exhibit a move away from representational forms towards a more geometric form of abstraction. He developed this theme further in some of his 1952 works, but other events were about to take precedence over his art.
Marriage and Family
Edwin married Marjorie Eileen McCulloch in November 1952 and they had two sons, born in 1953 and 1957. He later stated that he had no intention of giving up painting, but he found the conditions for creative work no longer existed in the domestic atmosphere of home and family. He painted a couple of watercolours in the mid-1950s, but otherwise his artistic output for the next 27 years was restricted to drawings and sketches.
Later Life
Eventually, after retiring from work and shortly after his sons left home, Edwin returned to painting in 1980. This wasn't a prolific period, with just one or two paintings per year. He revisited some of the themes from earlier in his career but, as was the case before, each work stands out for its individuality.
Plans to increase his output were frustrated by deteriorating eyesight and a period of depression. On recovery from depression he organised two exhibitions of his work in 1989: 23 watercolours at the Queens Hall and 18 oils at the Scottish Arts Club.
He died of leukaemia on 9 December 1990.
Plans to increase his output were frustrated by deteriorating eyesight and a period of depression. On recovery from depression he organised two exhibitions of his work in 1989: 23 watercolours at the Queens Hall and 18 oils at the Scottish Arts Club.
He died of leukaemia on 9 December 1990.
Posthumous Recognition
Edwin's work remained almost unknown until the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) acquired five of his paintings in 2013 and exhibited them in their New Acquisitions exhibition from October 2013 to May 2014. Many of the daily papers published articles about the discovery of this previously unknown Scottish Surrealist.
Subsequently one of his paintings, The Shape of the Night, has been displayed in the SNGMA Surrealism Room on a number of occasions, hung next to masterpieces by Dalí, Magritte, Miró, Ernst, Breton and other stars of international Surrealism. He was also granted a place in Scottish art history in the exhibition A New Era: Scottish Modern Art 1900-1950 at the SNGMA from December 2017 to June 2018.
Increased recognition has continued with a high-profile retrospective exhibition Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh from August 2018 to February 2019. This exhibition was repeated (with a few minor changes) at the Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend-on-Sea from June to September 2023, this being Edwin's first exhibition in England.
Subsequently one of his paintings, The Shape of the Night, has been displayed in the SNGMA Surrealism Room on a number of occasions, hung next to masterpieces by Dalí, Magritte, Miró, Ernst, Breton and other stars of international Surrealism. He was also granted a place in Scottish art history in the exhibition A New Era: Scottish Modern Art 1900-1950 at the SNGMA from December 2017 to June 2018.
Increased recognition has continued with a high-profile retrospective exhibition Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh from August 2018 to February 2019. This exhibition was repeated (with a few minor changes) at the Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend-on-Sea from June to September 2023, this being Edwin's first exhibition in England.
Notes
- Richard Warren, Outsider modernism: Edwin G Lucas, May 20, 2012, https://richardawarren.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/outsider-modernism-edwin-g-lucas/. Accessed 29 April 2018.
- Helen E. Scott, Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye, Sansom & Company, 2018, pp.10-11.
- Unknown author, Edwin G. Lucas, La Revue Moderne des Arts et de la Vie, Number 9, 15 May 1938, pp.25-26.
- Edwin G. Lucas, Draft Autobiographical Notes, Autumn 1989, Lucas Family Papers.
- Edwin G. Lucas, Draft Autobiographical Notes, November 1990, Lucas Family Papers.
- Unknown author, Mr Edwin G. Lucas’s Paintings: Edinburgh Exhibition, The Scotsman, 14 April 1950, p.5.