'', 1899 John Seymour Lucas was first and foremost a historical genre painter with a particular talent for realism in the depiction of costumes and interiors. Inspired by
van Dyck and particularly
Diego Velázquez, he excelled in depicting scenes from the British 16th- to 18th-century
Tudor and
Stuart periods, including in particular the
Spanish Armada, the
English Civil War, and the
Jacobite rebellions. He exhibited
The Gordon Riots at the
Royal Academy's
Summer Exhibition of 1879. His first major work to achieve widespread public acclaim was
After Culloden, Rebel Hunting, executed in 1884. It was praised not only for the obvious tension between the muscular blacksmiths and the red-coated forces of law and order (or repression), but for the extraordinary realism in the depiction of the rough smithy and glowing horseshoe on the anvil. One of his students was the painter
Ethel Wright before she trained further in Paris. She would become known for her work with the
suffragettes. As his reputation grew, Lucas increasingly mixed in society circles. He became firm friends with the famous society portrait painter
John Singer Sargent who was his almost exact contemporary. A portrait of Lucas executed by John Singer Sargent is displayed in
Tate Britain. Towards the 1890s John Seymour Lucas executed a number of major works for prestigious public buildings or royal clients. These include:
The Flight of the Five Members (
Houses of Parliament),
The Granting of the Charter of the City of London (
Royal Exchange),
Reception by HM King Edward VII of the Moorish Ambassador (
Royal Collection),
HRH the Prince of Wales in German Uniform (Royal Collection). In addition to executing more than 100 major oil paintings and a host of drawings, Lucas was renowned as a set and costume designer for the historical dramas popular on the late Victorian and early Edwardian stages. One of his more unusual commissions was the "Duke of Normandy" costume for the ill-fated prince
Alfred of Saxe Coburg-Gotha for the
Devonshire House Ball in 1897. Lucas was also a prolific watercolour painter; he was elected as a member of the
Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1877. During most of his artistic career, Lucas lived in a purpose-built studio in
South Hampstead, London, designed for him by his friend and fellow artist, architect
Sydney Williams-Lee. Lucas joined the
Sylvan Debating Club in 1872, and painted a portrait of the society's founder
Alfred Harmsworth. He retired from painting towards the end of World War I and moved to
Blythburgh,
Suffolk, where he re-designed a house next to the church known as "The Priory". Lucas died in 1923 and is interred in the churchyard of
Holy Trinity church in Blythburgh. His son, Sydney Seymour Lucas, also became an artist and illustrator. == Legacy ==