Albert Ludovici

Identity:

Albert Ludovici junior, the son of the artist Albert Ludovici, was a genre and landscape painter. He was married by 1885.

Life:

Ludovici's paintings were somewhat Whistlerian manner and title, but he was influenced by both French and British artistic trends. In 1881 Ludovici became a member of the Society of British Artists of which his father had been Treasurer. Whistler was President from December 1886 to November 1888 and Ludovici acted on the executive committee during this period. He exhibited with the Society during the winter of 1886-7 and 1888-89. He resigned in 1888, along with twenty-four others, in support of Whistler when Wyke Bayliss was elected President.

In March 1898 Ludovici was invited by the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers to act as their delegate in France. Whistler, their President, had settled in Paris and Ludovici had to act as intermediary between him, the committee and the exhibitors. He was put in charge of the hanging of the first ISSPG exhibition in May 1898, this involving a great deal of liaison with Whistler who was very concerned about the hanging of his panel. It was Ludovici who persuaded Whistler to allow Cézanne to exhibit with the ISSPG and Rodin to exhibit his less controversial works. After Whistler's death, Ludovici helped attain Rodin's election as the new President of the Society.

In August 1899 Whistler visited Dordrecht with Ludovici. Ludovici's memoirs provide invaluable insights into Whistler's views on art. He and Whistler were in correspondence from 1884 until 1899.

Bibliography:

UK census 1881; Ludovici, Albert, 'The Whistlerian Dynasty at Suffolk Street', Art Journal, July and August 1906, pp. 193-95, 237-39; Ludovici, A., An Artist's Life in London and Paris, 1870-1925, London, 1926; Sickert, W. R., Obituary, The Times, London, 26 March 1932, p. 15; Walkley, Giles, Artists' houses in London 1764-1914, Aldershot, 1994 ; MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 . The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, edited by Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp; including The Correspondence of Anna McNeill Whistler, 1855-1880, edited by Georgia Toutziari. Online edition, University of Glasgow, 2004.