Percival de Luce (US, 1847-1914)

Percival De Luce
(American, 1847-1914)

"Portrait of a Girl with Chestnut Curls"

oil on canvas
signed upper right, later inscription by artist's daughter en verso.
Framed.
12-1/2" x 9-1/2", framed 15-1/2" x 12-1/2"

Notes: A native of New York, and grandson of the London-born artist Thomas Thompson (1776-1852), Percival De Luce was raised in a family that appreciated and encouraged his artistic aspirations. He studied with Thomas Seir Cummings (1804-1894) and Edwin White (1817-1877) at the School of the National Academy of Design before traveling to Europe where he attended the Royal Academies of Antwerp and Brussels and the Academie Julien in Paris. This rigorous and thorough training is evident in the delightful portrait of a young girl presented here. The painterly brushstrokes of the white collar, the delicately modeled features of the face, and the minimal yet rich color palette are all indicative of a master portraitist.

A frequent exhibitor at the National Academy of Design, De Luce was named an Associate of that august Institution in 1897. The Percival De Luce Memorial Collection is conserved at Northwest Missouri State University.