Remembering Peter

Essex Art Club is sorry to announce the death of Wanstead resident Peter Luscombe, whose training as an architect led to a lifelong hobby.  Chair of Essex Art Club Mary Springham reports

Peter Luscombe was an accomplished painter and a long-term committee member of Essex Art Club and of many other art organisations. He took on responsible roles for most of the societies to which he belonged.

During lockdown, Peter had been circulating images of some of his old paintings to a large circle of colleagues, and we put some of them up on the Essex Art Club website. It was typical of Peter to do something informal, fun and interesting.

He worked primarily in watercolour, but in recent years, had used acrylic paint with spectacular results. He was also a talented portrait artist.

Peter successfully ran our Sunday painting group at St Barnabas Church hall for more than 10 years, and we will restart this as soon as we are able to do so since it is a very important activity for club members and visitors.

Peter originally trained as an architect and worked mainly in the City of London. “I was articled to an architect for three years when I was 16, which was a sort of apprenticeship. This method of training has long since been superseded by full-time courses in colleges and universities… Throughout my career, I produced illustrations both for my own designs and also for the various practices for which I worked. However, my interest in art has not been confined to work. It has been a hobby throughout my life,” explained Peter in a Wanstead Village Directory article in 2017.

He was a member of the Company of Chartered Architects (he was also a founder member), the Society of Maritime Artists, the Fine Arts Society of Painter Stainers Livery company, Chair of the City Heritage Society and a member of the Conservation Area Advisory committee in the City. He was also a devoted member of St Barnabas Church.

Essex Art Club has made a donation to the British Heart Foundation in his memory.

Peter died suddenly in June 2020. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.