Drawings




	"Eleanor" 21" x 16" Graphite and Charcoal (c. 1932) (Collection, California Art Club)

From the Renaissance until early in this century, draftsmanship - the art and science of drawing - was the foundation of Western art. Artists began their studies by copying historic works, drawing from ancient works of sculpture. Only after they mastered these early phases of their training did they begin working from the model. They learned perspective and techniques of optical measurement so that they attained a degree of accuracy that seems impossible to contemporary artists without the same talent and dedication and who have not been exposed to these time-honored ideals and techniques. Lukits' hand and eye were unusually honed because his artistic training began even before his teenage years. He thus drew with great accuracy but also with an artistic flair.
After years of study an artist had a solid understanding of form and it was this structure that exceptional figurative or portrait work is built upon. No matter how luminous the color of how flashy the techbique, draftsmanship - which is making a comeback today - is the basic skill a true painter relies upon.


	TNL 473, Charcoal, 10" x 8" "Self Portrait at Twenty" (Dated 1918) This self portrait was done while Lukits was deathly ill in the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919, which killed hundreds of thousands of mainly young Americans and millions around the world. Knowing that he may not have survived, Lukits memorialized himself in this moody portrait. (Collection, California Art Club)			TNL 472, Pencil on Paper, 13" x 10 1/2" "Self Portrait at Thirty" (1928) This self portrait was done in 1928 when the artist was thirty. Drawn rapidly, it displays the precision and flair that Lukits drew with. Using pencil, the drawing was done with an incredibly small number of strkes using both the point and the broader size of the pencil.

TNL 654, Charcoal, 20" x 12"
"Downcast Nude" (Circa 1920)
This early work dates from Lukits' early years in Los Angeles. It may have been done in the mid 1920s when the artist opened his own atelier or perhaps before. The torso - with the subtle transition from the abdomen to the chest - is beautifully delineated. (Private Collection)

TNL 655, Charcoal and Pencil, 18" x 11"
"Male Nude - Back View" (Circa 1920)
While Lukits - like most male artists - loved to draw and paint beautiful women, he hired a variety of models for his own edificication and that of his students. A thin, older man, like this model, allows the artist to observe the bone structure, which is much less obvious on a fleshier or more muscular model. (Private Collection)

TNL , Pencil on Colored Paper, 23 1/2" x 18"
"Zaida" (Circa 1935-1940)
"Zaida" was Lukits' favorite female model. A Persian woman, she had a very exotic and sensual look which made her ideal for some of his most romantic pastels. Lukits also used her to model for his classes and on some occasions he drew alongside the students. (Private Collection)

TNL 611, Charcoal, 21" x 12"
"Standing Woman with a Peacock Feather" (Circa 1946-1949)
This drawing was done in the post-war years when Lukits occasionally worked from the model along with his students, who attended forty hours of classes per week on the G.I. Bill. Lukits often had the models hold a flower on some object to add visual interest to his subject. (Collection, California Art Club)

TNL 626, Pencil on Paper, 10 1/2" x 13 1/2"
"Seated Nude" (Circa 1918-1920)
This drawing probably dates back to the final years of Lukits' tenure in Chicago and it may have been a study for an advertising work or a cponceptual study for an assignment in his final year at the Arrt Institute. (Private Collection)

TNL 614, Pencil on Paper, 16" x 7 1/2"
"Woman with Upraised Hands" (Circa 1919-1920)
This drawing probably dates from Lukits' student career at the Art Institute. In order to allow the models to maintain a pose with outstretched hands they rested their hands in a pair of handles attached to an overhead rope. (Collection, Lukits Art Trust)

TNL TBA, Pencil on Paper, 23" x 32 1/2"
"Zaida - Standing Nude " (Circa 1930-1932, Private Collection)

TNL 470, Pencil on Paper, 23" x 32 1/2"
"Nude (Skeleton and Muscles)" (Circa 1930-1932, Private Collection)

In addition to his classes in anatomy at the Art Institute, Theodore Lukits studied anatomy at Barnes Medical College, where he dissected cadavers in order to further his knowledge of the subject. In his own atelier he gave thorough anatomy classes. About 1930 Lukits considered writing a book on artistic anatomy but gave up the project because he felt that students needed instruction, not simply a book. The anatomical cut-aways were dispersed - given away to students or sold, and today only a few works have been located, including the final drawing in the series (on the left) and another from the series which shows the entire skeleton and the musculature of the leg (right). The model is Zaida, the Persian dancer whose lithe, muscular body made her an ideal choice for this project.