Simeon Elliott Drake, Jr. (American, 1911-1995) Portrait of the Artist's Companion, R. Baird circa 1950-55 oil on canvas inscribed R. Baird lower right 31 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches (sight) Drake was born in Lexington on October 23, 1911. His father, Simeon Drake, Sr. (1872-1964) was a descendant of the Elizabethan sailor and buccaneer Sir Francis Drake. Prosperous merchants, the Drake family had been in Lexington since the late 18th century. Drake senior made his money dealing in wholesale automotive transactions, supplying local agencies with quantities of cars for their sale lots. Mrs. Drake, the former Frances Wigglesworth (1876-1967), was a native of Woodford County whose socially prominent family were descendants of pioneer minister Henry Goodloe. Their home, a large colonial revival style house, was at 1810 Richmond Road, across from the entry way to what is now the Idle House country club. Young Simeon Drake attended Henry Clay High School prior to entering the University of Kentucky where he was initially a commerce major. Following graduation in 1932, his interest in art lead him to further studies in Lexington and Cincinnati. At that time the Lexington art scene was strongly influenced by the presence of Edward Rannells, chairman of the UK art department, a supervisor of WPA art projects and a collector of the art of his time. It is likely Drake was part of a cultural circle which included painters Eleanor Pryor, Clifford Amyx and Frank Long, musician John Jacob Niles and writer Elizabeth Hardwick. Drake’s major period of art activity occurred between 1935 and 1951. By 1935 he was enrolled at the Cincinnati Art Academy, one of the oldest art schools in America. In June 1935 he was awarded the Louise Ingalls scholarship, granting him full tuition for study at the Academy. His still life of a rubber plant was chosen for the 1936 student exhibition and received the B. H. Kroger purchase prize. Like all artists he was drawn to the New York scene and left for study at the Art Students League in 1939 on a scholarship he won while at the Art Academy. While there are no accessible records of the Art Students League student body, the work of instructors George Bridgman and Kenneth Hayes Miller offer evidence of style critical to Drake’s development. In this environment Drake developed a style which depicted the subject, or scene at hand, in a realistic manner, yet executed with a smoothly flowing brush stroke and a somber sense of color relived by shine points of vivid intent. When an exhibition of his work was shown at Centre College in December, 1940, he drew the admiration of a writer for the local paper. “Mr. Drake is a superb colorist and each painting is a harmony of luminous tones, some low and rich…and some in brilliant ochres and reds…” they depicted “interesting arrangements of figures at card tables, at tea, lolling on the beach and in the dance hall.” (Danville Advocate-Messenger, December 11, 1940). But war loomed, and the Danville exhibition would prove to be the last one man show the artist held. He enlisted in the Army in 1940, was commissioned as a warrant officer in 1942, and became an undocumented part of the Army art project. Simeon Drake returned to Lexington after the war ended and resumed an association with local artists, notably Clyfford Amyx, who selected his work for an exhibition in April, 1947. Upon viewing, a writer for the Lexington Herald April 13, 1947, found the “lush landscapes of Simeon Drake” to be “as usual…sensitive and pleasant…” Meantime he returned to his job at Wheeler Furniture in Lexington, roughing out advertisements and drawing illustrations of goods on offer. One of the last notices of his artistic activity occurred in September, 1951 when the Lexington Herald announced that he sailed from New York on the Queen Mary and had arrived in Paris, France. Unless additional information and works of art come to light, we will never know what impact the Parisian sojourn had upon his life and art, for there are no further mentions of him or his creative endeavors. He seems to have retired to his parents home, whose care he provided for the rest of their lives, the home where he would live until his own death. But works survive which suggest he continued to paint and draw, notably images of a young man with whom he was photographed at Cumberland Falls. This portrait, which hung in a prominent place in the house on Richmond Road, is executed in a highly sophisticated manner, the paint movingly applied and subtlety sensuous. Drake has rendered his friend as alluring yet quietly composed, hauntingly reminiscent of “the love that dare not speak its name.” It offers a rare glimpse into the Lexington LGBT community of the post-World War II era, making the artist’s brief appearance on the public stage all the more frustrating. Provenance: Consigned to Scout Antiques, Lexington. By purchase to the current owner.