Lot 531: Lee Lufkin Kaula (American, 1865-1957) Old Stone Church Interior, La Chapelle, 1897 Unsigned. Oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. (73...

Lee Lufkin Kaula (American, 1865-1957)

Old Stone Church Interior, La Chapelle, 1897
Unsigned.
Oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. (73.0 x 59.5 cm), framed.
Condition: Paint losses, craquelure, small area with lifting, surface grime.

Exhibitions: Lee Lufkin Kaula 1865-1957, Post Impressionist of the Boston School, James R. Bakker Antiques and Robert E. Cleaves, Groton, Massachusetts, March 9-23, 1974.

N.B. On July 20, 1897, William Kaula, future husband of the artist, wrote in his diary, "Miss L. is painting an excellent interior of the old stone church at La Chapelle. It is an old stained-whitewashed interior with old wooden pews, stone floors and green mould [sic] creeping up the side-walls. With the addition of a few figures, the priest, choir-boy, and a few old women it will make an interesting work as it is painted with a pleasing simplicity and good feeling for subdued color. Miss L. has none of the insipid sentiment about the picturesque, and has no desire to paint the ancedotal picture- the bane of art students in Paris or France." (Excerpted from the hand-written journal of William J. Kaula, July 20, 1897, while sojourning in Crécy, France, pp. 176-177.) The journal entry also mentions "Miss S," presumably Claire Shuttleworth, with whom Lee Lufkin traveled to Paris. Lee Lufkin and William Kaula were married in 1902.

Accompanying this lot are a notarized letter of authenticity signed by James R. Bakker and Robert E. Cleaves dated March 31, 1974, and five volumes of William J. Kaula's hand-written diaries from October 13, 1896, through July 25, 1903.