FREDERIC JOHN LLOYD STREVENS
Born in 1902
Title: "Picnic Parisienne"
Date: circa 1930
Size: Height 25 ó inches Width 29 ó inches (framed)
Frederic John Lloyd Streven's wonderful paintings of Paris at the turn of this century are justly
admired for portraying the very essence of Parisian life. Born in London in 1902, John Strevens
attended classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic and later at Heatherley’s. 1943 marked a
turning point in John Strevens’s career with his first one-man show off Bond Street and by 1947
paintings such as The Three Princesses, depicting his daughters Jo, Vicky and Ginny, which
were exhibited at the Royal Academy earned him public acclaim. From then on he exhibited
regularly at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of
Portrait Painters and the Paris Salon.
Not long after the death of his first wife, the novelist Jane Cooper Strevens, he married a young
native of Barcelona, Julia Marzo. In 1957 he set off with his three daughters and his new wife
and baby daughter on the first of several trips across France to Spain which were to inspire
subjects for more London exhibitions. 1961 saw his first trip to the USA and the beginning of an
enthusiastic reception from American art collectors. Leaving a Kensington flat and studio for a
quieter house and garden in Loughton, Essex, (near family roots) in 1963, John Strevens
continued to support his family painting portraits and colourful romantic fantasies of women,
children and flowers. A new life-long working relationship began in the late 1960s when the art
dealer Kurt E. Schon of New Orleans tracked the artist down after seeing The Woman in Black
in the International Directory of Art. Well into his 80s, John Strevens would travel to the U.S. to
meet collectors and paint portrait commissions from life. But his book-lined and music-filled
studio at the end of the garden of his home in Loughton, Essex, continued to provide a refuge
and his main source of his inspiration until the end of his life.
As with Luigi Loir and Eugene Galien-Laloue, Strevens painted views of Paris in a manner
which carefully and intimately observed the subject matter with a directness of execution which
depicted both the freshness of atmosphere and the magic of colour and light. This present
composition is quintessential Strevens - a lively Paris picnic scene with elegant gentlemen and
ladies -- allowing one to catch a glimpse of elegant Parisiennes - a view which has captured the
imagination of many through the decades. This wonderful example of Streven’s work is signed
and signed and inscribed verso and is presented in pristine condition.