Lucy Wilson Rice 1874-1963

Rice, Lucy Wilson (Mrs. Charles Donnell Rice).1874-1963.  Belton, Austin.  Portrait painter.
       Born in Troy, Alabama, Rice was reared and educated in Belton, where she graduated in 1891 from Baylor Female College with a degree in art and studied under Maria Brown.  Rice maintained a studio and taught for a brief period before her marriage in 1895.
       In 1900 the couple moved to Austin where her husband taught mathematics at the University of Texas.  In 1927 Rice joined a group of 127 artist, guided by George Elmer Browne, on a tour of France, Italy,Corsica, and North Africa.  In Paris she attended the Academies Colarossi, Delecluse, and de la Grande Chaumiere for brief periods before opening a studio in Paris.  Her husband's illness caused her to return to Austin.  After his death, she studied for a year under Wayman Adams (who painted her portrait).  She attended the Art Students League of New York and the Grand Central Galleries Art School, New York, painted in Provincetown, Massachusetts, then returned to Austin and opened a studio and gallery in an annex of her home.  She stopped painting in 1952 because of failing eyesight.  Rice died in Austin.
      Rice executed portraits of numerous public figures, including Texas governors and college presidents.
       Exhibitions:  Paris Salon (1928);  Annual Texas Artist Circuit Exhibition (1929-30); Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, Denver (1930); Annual Texas Artist Exhibition, Fort Worth (1931-32, 1934-35); Elisabet Ney Museum, Austin (1932); Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, Austin (1949 one-woman); Women Artist of Texas 1850-1950, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon (1993); Texas Fine Arts Association; Grand Salon, Paris.
         Collections: Portraits of Governors Dan Moody, Miriam A. Ferguson, and Ross Shaw Sterling, Vice-President John Nance Garner, Capital Historical Artifact Collection, Austin; "Cowboy" portrait, Texas Memorial Museum, Austin; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth; University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; Texas A&M University-Kingsville; San Antonio Public Library; Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos; Baylor University, Waco.
           Affiliations: American Artists Professional League; Austin Art League; Southern States Art League; Texas Fine Arts Association.