Theodore Nikolai Lukits; Portrait Artist

Theodore Nikolai Lukits, a Southern California artist known for his 1930s portraits of Hollywood stars and airy landscapes of the Southwest, has died. He was 94.

Lukits, who died Jan. 20 of pneumonia, was the last representative of California’s plein-air painters, so named for their style of French Impressionism that concentrated on the effects of outdoor light and atmosphere.

His work was exhibited last year by the Carnegie Museum in Oxnard.

Born in Temesvar, Transylvania, on Nov. 26, 1897, Lukits moved to the United States with his family two years later. As the child prodigy of a sculptor and muralist, he began to study art at Washington University in St. Louis at age 8. He quit school in the eighth grade and studied privately with such artists as the American Impressionist painter Richard Miller.

Lukits enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1914. By the time he graduated five years later, he had won every award available to students, including the Prix de Rome scholarship for study abroad. He used the prize funds to support his study of Southwestern U.S. landscapes.

Lukits began his career as a studio portrait artist in Chicago, supporting himself initially by doing illustrations for publications such as Colliers, Country Gentleman, Ladies Home Journal and Harper’s Magazine.

Silent film star Theda Bara was credited with persuading Lukits to move west after he painted a portrait of her in Chicago. He opened his first Los Angeles studio on Normandie Avenue in 1922, and began painting such celebrities as William Wyler, Ray Milland and Dolores del Rio.

Excited by the California light, Lukits also began a series of plein-air pastels, which included the coastline, the Sierra, Mojave Desert and Grand Canyon.

In 1924, he established the Lukits Academy of Art, where he taught young artists for more than six decades. He retired at 90.

A traditional artist, Lukits believed strongly in studying art and craftsmanship with well-established painters. He also constructed his own palettes, made his own brushes, and ground his own colors, although the practice gave him lead poisoning.

Friendly with artists Jack Wilkenson and Frank Tenny Johnson, Lukits shared their enthusiasm for moonlight. The group often sketched together all night, using miner’s helmets for illumination.

Lukits, a lifetime member of the Jonathan Club, donated many of his works to the Jonathan Club Art Foundation shortly after it was formed in 1989. Several of his plein-air pastels, oil landscapes and portraits are displayed at the private club in downtown Los Angeles.

He is survived by his second wife, former Disney illustrator Lucile Greathouse. His first wife, artist Eleanor Merriam, died from injuries suffered in an explosion at their home in 1948.

A memorial service for Lukits is scheduled next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Glendale.

The family asks that memorial donations be made to the Lukits Memorial Fund, P.O. Box36C 54, Los Angeles, CA 90036-1253. The fund will finance a book on Lukits’ life and work.