Luvena Vysekal

Luvena Buchanan Vysekal
Born	Luvena Buchanan (1873-12-23)December 23, 1873 Le Mars, Iowa, U.S.
Died	January 11, 1954(1954-01-11) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Benjamin Blue, Luvena Vysekal
Alma mater	School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Occupation	Painter
Spouse	Edouard Vysekal (1914–?)
Relatives	Ella Buchanan (sister)

Luvena Buchanan Vysekal (née Luvena Buchanan, pseudonym Benjamin Blue; December 23, 1873 – January 11, 1954) was an American portrait painter.

Biography

Sunflowers, 1927

She was born December 23, 1873, in Le Mars, Iowa, her parents were Scottish.

She was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago between 1910 and 1914, where her future husband Edouard Vysekal was one of her professors. They married in 1914, and moved to Southern California. She later opened a studio on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California. In 1895 she used the alias of Hattie Lummis and wrote a poem for a song prize commissioned by the Wabash Railboard, which became "In the Shadow of the Pines," later performed by the Carter Family and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. She used the pseudonym "Benjamin Blue" to publish a 1922 book, Counterfeit Presentations.

Further reading

• Yoshiki-Kovinick, Marian (2011). Love Never Fails: The Art of Edouard and Luvena Vysekal. Pasadena, California: Pasadena Museum of California Art. ISBN 9781450790291. OCLC 764728125.