Artist: Marie Seymour Lucas (1855–1921) French-English

Title: Portrait of a Woman Holding a Flower

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 48” x 62"

A classic styled portrait of an elegant woman in profile holding a pink carnation. The light is cast across her face and torso, using chiaroscuro technique, depicting an angelic, pure figure. The faux, Romantic country scene as a backdrop, added by the artist Marie Seymour Lucas, was a popular 19^th century device for portrait painters and photographers. This is an imposing piece signed lower left and finished in an ornate, period frame.

Biography:
Marie Seymour Lucas, née Marie Elizabeth Cornelissen (1855–1921), was the French-born daughter of Louis and Marianne Cornelissen. Her parents sent her to England for some of her education, and she attended St. Martin's Lane Academy and later the Royal Academy. She studied in London. There she began showing paintings in 1877. She married the painter John Seymour Lucas the same year at the young age of 18 and became known professionally by her married name. Known for historical works and genre scenes, Lucas later concentrated on domestic scenes with children. There is something reminiscent of Singer Sargent’s portraiture being painted at the same time. She lived in England until her death in 1921. She died in Hendon, Middlesex.

Lucas exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Her painting of orphans We are but little children weak, nor born to any high estate was included in the 1905 book Women Painters of the World.