Theodore Lukits

Theodore N. Lukits
Theodore Lukits at Los Angeles museum, 1937
Born	(1897-11-26)November 26, 1897 Timişoara, Austria-Hungary (now Romania)
Died	January 20, 1992(1992-01-20) (aged 94) Santa Monica, California, United States
Education	Washington University in St. Louis School of Fine Arts, Chicago Art Academy, Chicago Art Institute, Barnes Medical College, Alphonse Mucha
Known for	Landscape painting, portraiture, illustration, mural painting
Movement	California Plein-Air, American Impressionism

Theodore Nikolai Lukits (November 26, 1897 – January 20, 1992) was a Romanian American portrait and landscape painter. His initial fame came from his portraits of glamorous actresses of the silent film era, but since his death, his Asian-inspired works, figures drawn from Hispanic California and pastel landscapes have received greater attention.

Lukits began his professional career as an illustrator while still in his teens. He was a still life painter, muralist and founder of the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts in Los Angeles for more than sixty years. He had the reputation of a craftsman who made his own paints from raw pigments, constructed brushes and palettes, and designed and carved frames. Lukits was responsible for keeping the "Beaux-Arts" methods of the French academic system alive in the western United States, and several of his students went on to prominent careers. His works are displayed in many public collections. He was a member of a number of professional art organizations and won many awards in competitions. Lukits has been the subject of a number of solo museum exhibitions since his death, and his work has been included in a number of other museum exhibitions devoted to Tonalism and California and American Impressionism.

Lukits was born Nicolae Teodorescu in Timişoara, Transylvania, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Theodore Lukits, Sr., was a butcher, and his mother was a homemaker. He came to the United States at age two when his family immigrated in 1899, and he grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Lukits began formal studies at Washington University in St. Louis School of Fine Arts before he was twelve. His first teacher was Edmund H. Wuerpel (1866–1958). He also studied with Richard E. Miller (1875–1943) in St. Louis, who had returned home from the art colony of Givery and was staying with his parents. Lukits left public school after the 8th grade in order to pursue a career in art, with the full cooperation of his parents. He worked from an early age, first as an office boy and then as an airbrush artist, painting delicate girls' heads on leather.