Art Exhibition To Honour Charles Lloyd Tucker

Masterworks Museum will be hosting an exhibition to honour the late Charles Lloyd Tucker, with the exhibition to be open to the public until September of this year.

A spokesperson said, “This year marks the 50th since the death of Charles Lloyd Tucker [1913-1971], a prolific Bermudian painter who inspired a generation of Bermudians. To commemorate Mr. Tucker’s artwork and life, Masterworks Museum is honoring him in a special exhibition which is open to the public until September of this year. Tucker’s deep love of his island home is evident in many of his watercolours, oils, and pen and ink drawings he made of Bermuda, several of which are featured in the show.

“Charles Lloyd Tucker, born in Bermuda in 1913 was one of eight children born to Ada Louise [Steede] and John Edgar Tucker, both of whom influenced Tucker significantly. John was a mason and builder, but also an active community organizer and so it was only natural that Tucker’s inquisitive mind would be interested in exploring the social climate of Bermuda. Separately, Ada, passed along her love of music to Tucker. Playing musical instruments was known by many as Tucker’s “first love”.

“After attending Temperance Hall Primary School and Excelsior Secondary School, Tucker went on to the Berkeley Institute and graduated there in 1933. From there he went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Dramatic Arts in London but his time was cut short as the Second World War broke out in 1939.

“After playing piano at Castle Harbour Hotel and other venues, as well as tutoring private piano lessons he went on to complete his schooling in the arts which included attending the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, assisting painting of a mural in the Bishop of London’s private chapel at Fulham Palace and studying watercolour painting under Hans Hermann Hagedorn in Hamburg Germany. Later in life, Tucker would name his son Hans in honour of his artistic mentor.

“In 1954 Tucker started as the first art teacher at the Berkeley Institute, a role which he continued until his death. A dominate figure in the art scene here in Bermuda, Tucker was one of the founding members of the Bermuda Society of Arts and exhibited his own work both locally and across the East Coast of the United States.

“The traditional art training he received in England and Germany found a natural conduit for translating the beauty of Bermuda onto canvas and paper. There was no subject that didn’t capture Tucker’s interest, whether the more urban settings of Hamilton and St. George’s, or the tranquil countryside of Shelly Bay and the South Shore.

“Many of his paintings illustrate Bermuda life in the transformative 1950s and ‘60s. Tucker’s encounters with Haitan and Jamaican art in the mid-1950s had a creative impact on his painting style, embracing similar manners to explore the social upheaval of the time. Several of these paintings are on display at Masterworks Museum, both from the Masterworks Collection and from various family members who have kindly loaned the works for the exhibition.”

Executive Director Risa Hunter states: “Visiting the exhibition, one will see the talent of Mr. Tucker as an artist who captured our island, our people and our culture in a distinctive and compelling way. What I find so fascinating about Tucker was his dynamic personality and multifaceted interests in not only art, but beekeeping, his family, socio-economic issues on the island and his care in teaching the next generation of artists and leaders in Bermuda. He has such a legacy not only as a painter but as a Bermudian, and his talents continue to give back to our community even fifty years on.”

Founder of Masterworks, Tom Butterfield states, “At the outset of creating a collection the notion was to include all artists from home or abroad whose muse was Bermuda, with an open mind to interpretation. How fortunate to be given the work of Charles Lloyd Tucker. It played a pivotal role of inclusion, trust, a broad base of support, a prophet of the benefits of education, and the legacy of Charles Lloyd Tucker. If Bermuda is in search of a hero look no further.”

The Charles Lloyd Tucker Exhibition will be open to the public at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, located in the Botanical Gardens until September 2021.

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