Bayard, Lucy (b. 1899)

Although we haven’t been able to establish a reliable date or location for Bayard’s birth, an exhibition of her paintings at the MacDowell Club in 1915 for “painters trying their wings in the open” suggests a time somewhere 1899 (Brooklyn Daily Eagle 13 April 1915: 6). She studied with George Luks and Robert Henri at the Art Students League, the latter painting her portrait in “Green Coat” (1919). Likewise, she was the subject of George Bellows’ “Lucie” (1915) and remained good friends with the family. Her work appeared at the Society of Independent Artists (1917), the Allison Gallery (1945), and at various Woodstock shows. In 1951 she had a solo exhibition at the Mollie Higgins Smith Gallery, Woodstock, where a review praised her pastels for possessing “an unusual quality of depth and rich strong color not normally associated with the delicate medium” (Kingston Daily Freeman 10 Sept. 1951: 5). A Woodstock News article on Bayard noted reviews in praise of Lucie’s work from Art Digest and Art News:[In] Miss Bayard’s painting – the flowers …possess vitality that contributes animation to each canvas – while their soundness of tactile substance does not prevent the impression of their fragile ephemeral character. She has a rich sense of color. Her work is modern and spirited – a vitality which flows, perhaps from the rapidity of execution and reveals a sure and personal touch.” 1 image at FAP.

 

Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Lucy Bayard:

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Flowers
Flowers

Bayard has painted a still life of a blue vase of flowers on the end table. A small wooden box sits next to the vase. The table, box, and wall behind the vase all are a deep reddish brown; this color makes up much of the composition. The flowers in the vase are an assortment of blues, oranges, and whites. There are small peach colored circles on the table, which may be polka dots on the table, or may be fallen petals. There is a light blue along the edge of the right side of the painting, perhaps a window, and what looks to be a frame along the right side.

bayardGVCA