James Lucas (illustrator)
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20 December 1903
James Lucas | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Edward Lucas 20 December 1903 Rugby, Warwickshire, England |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1930s |
| Organization | Communist Party of Great Britain |
| Spouse | Phyllis Ladyman |
James Edward Lucas (born 20 December 1903) was a British illustrator and teacher, affiliated with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[1]
Lucas was born in Rugby, the son of Joseph Lucas, an engine driver, and Anne Marie Sail. His father died in 1906 and his mother remarried William Skipworth.[2] Electrical engineer George Sail Campbell Lucas OBE was his elder brother.
Lucas did not sign much of his work, making attribution difficult.[1]
He designed a banner for the British Battalion of the International Brigades, on behalf of the Artists International.[3][4] Phyllis Ladyman, his wife and also an illustrator, oversaw its embroidering.[3] The banner's poles had metal finials by the sculptor Betty Rea.[3] It was presented to the battalion by Harry Pollitt at Christmas 1937.[3] When that banner was captured, he designed its replacement.[1] The replacement banner was shown as part of the Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War exhibition at the Pallant House Gallery in 2015.[4]
He is also known for his engraving for the cover of early editions of The Country Standard.[1] He illustrated a 1947 edition of Ronald M. Lockley's I Know an Island.
He taught at Plymouth, where one of his pupils was Reg Turner, another CPGB affiliate.[1]
Dave Cope recalled him as "modest" and the "most political" among his artistic CPGB peers.[1]