1. Enoch Lloyd Branson was an American artist best known for his portraits of Southern politicians and depictions of early East Tennessee history.
16 Facts About Lloyd Branson
1. 2.
One of the most influential figures in Knoxville's early art circles, Branson received training at the National Academy of Design in the 1870s and subsequently toured the great art centers of Europe.
3.
Lloyd Branson was a mentor to fellow Knoxville artist Catherine Wiley, and is credited with discovering twentieth-century modernist Beauford Delaney.
4.
Lloyd Branson was born in what is Union County, Tennessee, to English parents.
5.
Lloyd Branson's family moved to Knoxville in 1868, where Lloyd found work in a brickyard.
6.
Around the time of the Civil War, prominent Knoxville physician John Mason Boyd noticed a sketch of Ulysses S Grant Branson had made on a cigar box, and provided financial assistance for Branson to attend East Tennessee University.
7.
In 1871, Lloyd Branson drew favorable attention for his exhibition at the East Tennessee Division Fair.
8.
Lloyd Branson moved to New York in 1873, where he attended the National Academy of Design.
9.
Lloyd Branson taught art classes in the building, often to members of Knoxville's upper class.
10.
Lloyd Branson's work was exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
11.
Lloyd Branson won the gold medal for an exhibition at the 1895 Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta and in 1896, he won a national competition for designing the Flag of Knoxville, Tennessee.
12.
Lloyd Branson reached the height of his career in 1910, when his work, Hauling Marble, won the gold medal at Knoxville's Appalachian Exposition.
13.
Lloyd Branson died of "chronic Bright's disease" on June 12,1925.
14.
Lloyd Branson is buried in Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.
15.
Lloyd Branson was a stylistically conservative painter, especially in his early years, though some of his later works show elements of impressionism and modern styles.
16.
Lloyd Branson's work is on display in the Tennessee State Museum and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, and the Knoxville Museum of Art, the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, and the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville.