John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred books, his subjects gradually shifting around the late 1960s from mostly literature to mostly art.

Biography

Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of Mary Frances (née Lushington) and John Dudley Lucie-Smith. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1946.Biograph
Retrieved 4 October 2018.
/ref> He was educated at

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain ...

, and, after a little time in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, he read history at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, from 1951 to 1954. After serving in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

as an education officer and working as a copywriter, he became a full-time writer (as well as anthologist and photographer). He succeeded Philip Hobsbaum in organising The Group, a London-centred poets' group. At the beginning of the 1980s he conducted several series of interviews, ''Conversations with Artists'', for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...

. He was a contributor to ''

The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...

'', in which he wrote art reviews, and wrote regularly for the independent magazine ''

ArtReview ''ArtReview'' is an international contemporary art magazine based in London, founded in 1948. Its sister publication, ''ArtReview Asia'', was established in 2013. History Launched as a fortnightly broadsheet in February 1949 by a retired country ...

'' from the 1960s until the 2000s. A prolific writer, he has written more than one hundred books in total on a variety of subjects, chiefly art history as well as biographies and poetry. In addition he has curated a number of art exhibitions, including three Peter Moores projects at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

; the New British Painting (1988–90) and two retrospectives at the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

. He is a curator of the

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckha ...

Project Space. In recent years Edward Lucie-Smith has been promoting drawings attributed to Francis Bacon owned by Italian journalist Cristiano Lovatelli Ravarino. However, Christie's, Sotheby's and the Francis Bacon Estate have not authenticated these works known as the 'Francis Bacon Italian Drawings'. Martin Harrison, the editor of the Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné, does not include 'The Francis Bacon Italian Drawings' and does not see the hand of Bacon in these drawings. His uncle

Euan Lucie-Smith Euan Lucie-Smith (14 December 1889 – 25 April 1915) was a British Army second lieutenant of World War I, of mixed British and Afro-Caribbean descent. He was one of the first mixed-heritage infantry officers in a regular British Army regiment, ...

was one of the first mixed-heritage infantry officers in a regular British Army regiment, and the first killed in World War I.

Bibliography

Poetry and fiction

* *''A Tropical Childhood and Other Poems'' (1961) *''Confessions & Histories'' (1964) *''Penguin Modern Poets 6'' (1964; with

Jack Clemo Reginald John Clemo (11 March 1916 – 25 July 1994) was a British poet and writer who was strongly associated both with his native Cornwall and his strong Christian belief. His work was considered to be visionary and inspired by the rugged Cor ...

and George MacBeth) *''A Game of French and English'' (1965) poems *''Jazz for the N.U.F.'' (1965) *''Mystery in the Universe: Notes on An Interview with

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Genera ...

'' (1965) *''The Penguin Book of Elizabethan Verse'' (1965), editor *''A Choice of Browning's Verse'' (1967) *''Five Great Odes by

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early l ...

'' (1967), translator *''Borrowed Emblems'' (1967) *''Jonah: Selected Poems of

Jean-Paul de Dadelsen Jean-Paul de Dadelsen, (20 August 1913 Strasbourg – 23 June 1957 Zurich) was a French schoolmaster, officer, journalist, broadcaster and poet. He was an early supporter of a European Common Market and adviser to Jean Monnet. Biography Youth D ...

'' (1967), translator *''Silence'' (1967), poetry *''The Penguin Book of Satirical Verse'' (1967), editor *''The Little Press Movement in England and America'' (1968) *''More Beasts for

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French French poetry, poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish-Belarusian, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered ...

'' (1968) *''Snow Poem'' (1968) *''Towards Silence'' (1968) *''Egyptian Ode'' (1969) *''Holding Your Eight Hands'' (1969; science fiction verse anthology), editor *''Six Kinds of Creature'' (1969) *''Six More Beasts'' (1970) *''

British Poetry since 1945 ''British Poetry since 1945'' is a poetry anthology edited by Edward Lucie-Smith, first published in 1970 by Penguin Books. The anthology is a careful attempt to take account of the whole span of post-war British poetryMiddleton, Peter (2004"T ...

'' (1970 anthology), editor *''The Rhino'' (1971) with Ralph Steadman *''A Garland from the Greek'' (1971) *''French Poetry Today: a bilingual anthology'' (1971; co-editor, with Simon Watson Taylor) *''Primer of Experimental Poetry 1, 1870–1922. Volume I'' (1971) editor *''Two Poems of the Night'' (1972; with Ralph Steadman) *''The Well-Wishers'' (1974) *''The Dark Pageant'' (1977) *''One Man Show'' (1981), with Beryl Cook *''Private View'' (1981), with Beryl Cook *''Bertie and the Big Red Ball'' (1982; with Beryl Cook) *''Beasts with Bad Morals'' (1984) *''Poems for Clocks'' (1986) *''The lesson'' (2001) *''Changing Shape: New and Selected Poems'' (2002)

Non-fiction

1960–1979

*''

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition ...

'' (1961) *''What Is a Painting?'' (1966) *''Liverpool Scene: Recorded Live along the Mersey Beat'' (1967) editor *''Sergei De Diaghileff (1929)'' (1968) with Anthony Howell *''Thinking about Art: Critical Essays'' (1968) *''Movements in Art since 1945'' (1969) *''Art in Britain 1969–70'' (1970) with Patricia White *''A Concise History of French Painting'' (1971) *''Eroticism in Western Art'' (1972; revised as ''Sexuality in Western Art'', 1991) *''Symbolist Art'' (1972) *''Movements in Modern Art'' (1973; with

Donald Carroll Donald Carroll (12 December 1940 – 30 December 2010) was an American author, editor, poet, columnist and humourist. Early life Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1940, he was educated at the University of Texas, where he founded the poetry quarterl ...

) *''The First London Catalogue'' (1974) *''Late Modern: The Visual Arts Since 1945'' (1975) *''The Invented Eye: Masterpieces of Photography, 1839–1914'' (1975) *''The Waking Dream Fantasy and the Surreal in Graphic Art 1450–1900'' (1975; with Aline Jacquot) *''The Burnt Child: An Autobiography'' (1975) *''World of the Makers: Today's Master Craftsmen and Craftswomen'' (1975) *''How the Rich Lived: The Painter as Witness 1870–1914'' (1976; with

Celestine Dars Celestine is a given name and a surname. People Given name * Pope Celestine I (died 432) * Pope Celestine II (died 1144) * Pope Celestine III (c. 1106–1198) * Pope Celestine IV (died 1241) * Pope Celestine V (1215–1296) * Antipope Cele ...

) *''Fantin-Latour'' (1977) *''Art Today: From Abstract Expressionism to Superrealism'' (1977) *''Joan of Arc'' (1977) *''Toulouse-Lautrec'' (1977) *''Work and Struggle: The Painter as Witness, 1870–1914'' (1977; with Celestine Dars) *''Outcasts of the Sea: Pirates and Piracy'' (1978) *''A Concise History of Furniture'' (1979) *''A Cultural Calendar of the 20th Century'' (1979) *''Super Realism'' (1979)

1980–1999

*''Art in the Seventies'' (1980) *''The Story of Craft: The Craftsman's Role in Society'' (Phaidon, Oxford, 1981; ) *''The Art of Caricature'' (1981) *''The Body Images of the Nude'' (1981) *''The Sculpture of Helaine Blumenfeld'' (1982) *''A History of Industrial Design'' (1983) *''The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms'' (1984) *''Nudes and Flowers: 40 Watercolours by David Hutter'' (1984) *''Steve Hawley'' (1984) *''Art of the 1930s: The Age of Anxiety'' (1985) *''American Art Now'' (1985) *''Lives of the Great Twentieth Century Artists'' (1985) *''The Male Nude: A Modern View'' (1985; with François De Louville; the book features

Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of ...

, Kitaj & Shaw), et al.) *''Michael Leonard: Paintings'' (1985; with

Lincoln Kirstein Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 – January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sus ...

) *''American Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical'' (1986; with Paul J. Smith) *''Sculpture Since 1945'' (1987) *''The Self Portrait: A Modern View'' (1987; with Sean Kelly) *''The New British Painting'' (1988; with Carolyn Cohen and Judith Higgins) *''The Essential Osbert Lancaster: An Anthology in Brush and Pen'' (1988) editor *''Impressionist Women'' (1989) *''Art in the Eighties'' (1990) *''Art Deco Painting'' (1990) *''Fletcher Benton'' (1990; with Paul J. Karlstrom) *''Jean Rustin'' (1990) *''Harry Holland: The Painter and Reality'' (1991) *''Keith Vaughan 1912–1977: Drawings of the Young Male'' (1991) *''

Wendy Taylor Wendy Ann Taylor (born Stamford, Lincolnshire, 1945) is an English artist and sculptor, specialising in permanent, site-specific commissions. According to her website, she 'was one of the first artists of her generation to “take art out of ...

'' (1992) *''Andres Nagel'' (1992) *''Alexander'' (1992) *''Art and Civilization'' (1992) *''The Faber Book of Art Anecdotes'' (1992), editor *'' Luis Caballero: Paintings & Drawings'' (1992) *''20th Century Latin American Art'' (1993) *''Edward Lucie-Smith on Elizabeth Fritsch: ''Vessels from another World, Metaphysical pots Painted Stoneware'', Bellew Publishing, (1993) *''British Art Now – A Personal View'' (1993; with Zsuzsi Roboz and Max Wykes-Joyce) *''Fritz Scholder, A Survey of Paintings 1970–1993'' (1993) *''Race, Sex and Gender in Contemporary Art: The Rise of Minority Culture'' (1994) *''Elisabeth Frink: A Portrait'' (1994) *''John Kirby: The Company of Strangers'' (1994) *''American Realism'' (1994) *''Art Today'' (1995) *'' Panayiotis Kalorkoti, Reflections of Grizedale (Acrylics, Watercolours, Etchings)'' (1995) *''Visual Arts in the 20th Century'' (1996) *''Leonardo Nierman: 1987–1994 Painting/Sculpture/Tapestry'' (1996) *''

Albert Paley Albert Paley (born 1944) is an American modernist metal sculptor. Initially starting out as a jeweler, Paley has become one of the most distinguished and influential metalsmiths in the world. Within each of his works, three foundational elements ...

'' (1996) *''Ars Erotica: An Arousing History of Erotic Art'' (1997) *''Dunbar Mining The Surfaces'' (1997) *''Glenys Barton'' (1997; with

Adrian Flowers Adrian John Flowers (11 July 1926 – 18 May 2016) was a British photographer known for his portraits of celebrities that included Twiggy, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Vanessa Redgrave. Early life Flowers was educated at Sherborne School ...

and Robin Gibson) *''Impressionist Women: Reality Observed'' (1997) *''Adam: The Male Figure in Art'' (1998) *'' Chadwick'' (1998) *''Zoo: Animals in Art'' (1998) *''Lives of the Great 20th Century Artists'' (1999) *''Sean Henry – the Centre of the Universe'' (1999; with Beatrice F. Buscaroli) *''Women and Art: Contested Territory'' (1999), with

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

2000 to present

*''Judy Chicago: An American Vision'' (2000) *''Flesh and Stone'' (2000) *''Sergio Ceccotti'', Editions Lachenal & Ritter, Paris, 2001. *''Art Tomorrow'' (2002) *''Roberto Marquez'' (2002) *''David Remfry: Dancers'' (2003; with

Dore Ashton Dore Ashton (May 21, 1928 – January 30, 2017) was a writer, professor and critic on modern and contemporary art. Biography Ashton was born in Newark, New Jersey on May 21, 1928. She was the author or editor of more than thirty books on art, i ...

and

Carter Ratcliff Carter Ratcliff (born 1941 in Seattle, Washington) is an American art critic, writer and poet. His books on art include "John Singer Sargent" (Abbeville Press, 1982); "Robert Longo" ( Rizzoli, 1985); "The Fate of a Gesture: Jackson Pollock and Post ...

) *''Color of Time: The Photographs of Sean Scully'' (2004; with Arthur C. Danto and Mia Fineman) *'' Censoring the Body'' (2007) () *''Byzantium & Beyond: The Paintings of Dave Pearson'' (2012; with Margaret Mytton) * *''Amazonia Imagined (2016) *''Pop Expressionism (2016) *''Steven Heffer; A Very British Modernist (2016) *''Painting with Both Hands (2017) *''New Dimensions in Art (2017)

References

External links

BiographyLibraryThing author profileLong interview, 2017Edward Lucie-Smith papers
at the

University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...

*Materials related to Lucie-Smith can be found in the Turret Books records at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucie-Smith, Edward 1933 births Living people People from Kingston, Jamaica People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Writers from London British art critics British art historians British biographers British male poets British art curators John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature The London Magazine people Male biographers