Lucile Lloyd

Lucile Lloyd
Born(1894-08-28)August 28, 1894
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedFebruary 25, 1941(1941-02-25) (aged 46)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLucile Lloyd Brown,
Lucila Lloyd Nulty
EducationWoman's Art School at Cooper Union, Art Students League of New York
Known forMuralist, Illustrator, Decorative Painter
Spouses
Addison Brown, Jr.
​
​
(m. 1919⁠–⁠1925)​
Niel McNulty
​
(m. 1936⁠–⁠1939)​

Lucile Lloyd, also known as Lucile Lloyd Brown, Lucila Lloyd Nulty (August 28, 1894 – February 25, 1941) was an American muralist, illustrator, and decorative painter. In 1937, Lloyd worked with the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project to paint three murals in the assembly room in the state building in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Lloyd was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents were Mary Alice (Holcomb) and Harry Kensington Lloyd.[1] She apprenticed in her father's stained-glass and textile design studio.[2] Her English grandfather was a textile designer during the Arts and Crafts movement.[3]

She attended school at the Woman's Art School at Cooper Union in New York City and won two scholarships to the Art Students League of New York. While at Cooper Union she studied with Frank Fairbanks, Frederick Dielman, Robert Tyland, and Joseph C. Chase.[4] She was the first woman to work in the drafting room of architect Bertram G. Goodhue and painted her first mural decoration at the age of twenty.[5]

In 1919 Lloyd married Addison Brown II, son of Addison Brown. They had one child, Addison Brown III.[1]

Career

Lloyd moved with her husband and son to California in 1919. She opened a studio, taught classes and took the role of directorship of the Stickney Memorial Art School in Pasadena.[6][7][8] Lloyd worked as a muralist and decorator and also produced bookplates, cartoons, logos, water color, charcoal, architectural renderings and stained-glass designs. She worked with many well-known architectural firms including Howard Hewitt, Marsh, Smith, and Powell, Carleton Monroe Wilson, and the West Coast office of Bertam Goodhue.

In 1923, Lloyd contributed an article in the December issue of California Southland (pg. 14) entitled, The Relationship Between Architecture and Decoration, in which she acknowledges that while the architect has the vision, it is the interior specialist that brings together the decorative elements that complete a space. Lloyd mentions the need for time to research and create full scale working drawings as well as full color renderings. She goes on to stress that muralists such as herself be included from the onset of a project. "Bringing in an artist at the last minute can lead to a displeased client". "If the client could only be persuaded to put the money he spends, later, on landscapes or genre paintings which do not go with his house, into one good ceiling for over-mantel, which becomes a part of the architecture of his home, he would be better satisfied in the end." She closes her article by saying that while mural artists "speak the language of trade painters, murals artist are not to be confused with 'house painters'".[9]

In 1925, her spouse Addison Brown II divorced her and moved with their two-year-old child back to the East Coast.[10]

The Madonna of the Covered Wagon (1928) was a large mural completed at a middle school in south Pasadena. The scene recalls a journey made by thousands of pioneer families as they came west during the 1800s. While the work was considered by some critics of the time as saccharine, it is typical of the Illustrators School which was the style of her time. Los Angeles Times art critic Arthur Millier gave the work high praise saying, "her delightful mural combines humor and sentiment in delightful proportions.[11]

Lloyd was one of six artists who submitted drawings for the murals at Griffith Observatory. She was a member of the California Art Club, Women Painters of the West, American Bookplate Society and the California State Historical Association.

She married her second husband Niel McNulty in 1936, who died in 1939.

Lucile Lloyd committed suicide in February 1941, "overcome by gas".[12][13]

Commissioned artwork

Select list of commissioned artwork
Year Name Location Notes
1916 Music room ceiling murals John E. Aldred Estate, Glen Cove, New York A Bertam Goodhue architecture project.[14]
1917 Mural on the great hall ceiling Philip W. Henry house in Scarborough, New York A Bertam Goodhue architecture project.[14]
1923 'Episodes of Beowulf' Hanson House, Flintridge, California [15]
1925 Murals and ceiling beams First Baptist Church Pasadena, Pasadena, California [16][17]
1928 Madonna of the covered Wagon, mural on the proscenium of the auditorium South Pasadena Junior High (now known as South Pasadena Middle School), Pasadena, California Lloyd, under the auspices of the architectural firm of Marsh, Smith, Powell, created the 39" X 7" foot oil painting.[5] The Madonna of the Covered Wagon was executed on canvas at the artist's studio and installed in the proscenium of the auditorium after completion.[18] The scene recalls a journey made by thousands of pioneer families as they came West during the 1800s. The sheer cliffs of El Capitan are shown on the right rising high about the banks of the Merced River.[19]
1929 Ceilings; First Methodist Episcopal Church Santa Ana, California [20]
1929 Children's rooms Ives and Warren Mortuary, Pasadena, California
1930 Kindergarten Frieze Stoneman Elementary School, San Marino, California Mural was preserved in 1997 by Nathan Zakheim, son of muralist, Bernard Zakheim.[21]
1930 Ceilings and mural First Baptist Church Chapel, Pasadena, California
1930 Administration Building murals South Pasadena Schools, California
1930 South Pasadena Public Library Pasadena, California
1930 Auditorium ceiling Sierra Madre Grade School, Sierra Madre, California
1930 Newport Harbor Union High School, Newport Beach, California
1931 Ceilings Hollywood Citizen News building, Hollywood, California [22]
1931 Auditorium El Centro Elementary School, South Pasadena, California
1931 Facade Averill-Morgan Company, Hollywood, California
1931 Auditorium Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Long Beach, California
1931 Interiors Mannings Restaurant, Long Beach, California
1931 Study Hall ceiling Excelsior Union High School, Norwalk, California
1931 Ceilings and porch 87th Street Elementary School (Manchester Ave Elementary School), Los Angeles, California
1931 Celings Pacific Colony (later Lanterman Developmental Center), Spadra, California
1931 Murals, suites Dr. I. Eugene Gould, Pasadena, California
1932 Three wall panels Hollywood National Bank
1932 Ceiling and Murals Hotel Miramar, Santa Monica, California
1932 Eagle Rock High School
1932 Altarpiece St. Mary of the Angels Anglican Church, Hollywood [23]
1932 Virgil Junior High, Los Angeles, California
1932 Mural 'Peter Pan' East Whittier Middle School, East Whittier, California
1932 Gymnasium ceiling Foshay Junior High School, Los Angeles, California
1933 Library ceiling Hollywood High School, Los Angeles, California
1933 Border frames on murals, main murals by Dean Cornwell Library Rotunda, Los Angeles Central Library, Los Angeles, California
1933 La Chappelle Residence, Beverley Hills, California
1933 Interiors Manning's Restaurant, Los Angeles, California
1934 Third floor remodel Broadway Department Store, Los Angeles, California
1934 Entrance Jeweler's Exchange Building, Los Angeles, California
1936 Windows mausoleum at Inglewood Cemetery, Inglewood, California
1937 Three murals, California's Name Assembly Room, State Building, Los Angeles, California The mural, titled "California's Name", were dedicated on October 16, 1937 at the Los Angeles State Building at 217 West First Street on the Civic Center, hung in an Assembly room. The middle is approximately 16×13 ft and side panels 6.5×13 ft. Since 1992, these murals now reside in the Senate Committee Room, California State Senate, Sacramento, California.[24][25][26] The murals were moved after the original site was damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake.[27]

Publications

A list of articles and essays penned by Lucile Lloyd about her mural work.

Year Article title Publication Notes
1941 Does the Sun Make the Wind?
undated How A Plane Flies
1940 Plymouth Weaving Stunts
1940 Textiles
1940 Travel By Water
1928 South Pasadena Junior Highschool
1933 St. Mary of the Angeles Church
1928 Stoneman Elementary School

References

  1. ^ a b "Who's Who in California (Volume 1942-43)". ebooksread.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Finding Aid for the Lucile Lloyd papers, circa 1929-circa 1941 0000152". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  3. ^ California State Senate Rules Committee, 1992, pg 14
  4. ^ Los Angeles Times, Arther Millier 1931 pg B12
  5. ^ a b Architect and Engineer. Vol. 106–107. July 1931. p. 55.
  6. ^ Architect and Engineer. Vol. 68–71. 1922. p. 112.
  7. ^ "Lucile Lloyd papers, 1916-1941". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  8. ^ California Rules, 1992, p. 14
  9. ^ California Southland, December 1923, p. 14.
  10. ^ California Rules, p. 14.
  11. ^ Los Angeles Times, "Take Your Olympic Guest on Mural Painting Tour", May 29, 1932, pg. B9
  12. ^ Hurley, Melissa. "Local Women Artists Throughout History". wbexhibit.otis.edu. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  13. ^ "Obituary: Art Is Wearisome". Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. March 5, 1941. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  14. ^ a b Southwest Builder and Contractor. Vol. 57, Issues 14-26. 1921. p. 14.
  15. ^ Watters, Sam (2007). Houses of Los Angeles: 1920-1935. Urban domestic architecture series. Vol. 2 of Houses of Los Angeles. Acanthus Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780926494312.
  16. ^ "PCAD - Lucile Lloyd". Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD), University of Washington. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  17. ^ "Lucile Lloyd: Study for chapel murals, First Baptist Church, (Pasadena, Calif.) · UCSB ADC Omeka". www.adc-exhibits.museum.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  18. ^ " Dedication" Foothill Review, October 26, 1928 p. 1
  19. ^ "Lucile Lloyd, Bohemian Decorator Lends Charm To Professional Ability". Newspapers.com. Santa Ana Register. February 27, 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  20. ^ "The Heavens Are Tell- The First Methodist Church Chose Chandlers". Newspapers.com. Santa Ana Register. March 4, 1929. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  21. ^ "Preserving the Stoneman Mural: One Person CAN Make a Difference". San Marino Tribune. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  22. ^ Vincent, Roger (April 2, 2014) "Art deco Hollywood Citizen News building is sold" Los Angeles Times
  23. ^ "Churches - Saint Mary of the Angels, Lucile Lloyd: A Life in Murals". AD&A Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  24. ^ "Murals". California State Capitol Museum in Sacramento, California. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  25. ^ "Picturing California's History · Lucile Lloyd: A Life in Murals". UCSB. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  26. ^ "California State Capitol Murals - Sacramento CA". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  27. ^ "California State Capitol Museum". www.tfaoi.com. Retrieved 2020-04-02. A 1971 earthquake found the building to be structurally unsound and it was torn down in 1975. The murals were removed and placed in storage. In 1991, the Senate Rules Committee authorized the work necessary to restore the murals, and in January 1992, they were installed in a Senate Hearing Room.
  • "California's Name" - Three WPA sponsored Murals by Lucile Lloyd - published by California State Senate Rules Committee - January, 1992