Unfortunately my sister, my two brothers, and I do not remember my Great Uncle John’s most active years as an artist, but we did first start to visit our Lloyd relatives when we were very young. Dad and Ma would pack us all in the old Pontiac and make the weekly Sunday trip from Youngstown, Ohio to Warren where my Great Uncle John, my Great Aunt Sadie, my Great Grandmother Susannah, and my Great Grandfather Charles Lloyd all lived.
My brothers and sister and I always had a particularly close relationship with this part of the family. This close relationship stems from the Lloyd’s help in raising my mother after her mother Margaret, John Lloyd’s sister, died at an early age. My mother was only four when she passed away.
When we first started visiting the Lloyd’s, Great Grandma was already in her seventies and a fragile woman in need of a cane. I remember her being a quiet reserved woman, though always loving, caring, and pleasant to be around. We all loved her very much. I always thought of Great Grandma Lloyd as a woman of extraordinary character. She suffered through many tragedies in her life; however, she always persisted and went on to live to the ripe old age of 95. I do not remember much about Great Grandpa. I only saw him for a few years,when I was young, before he became ill and had to be hospitalized.
Great Uncle John was already in his 50’s when we first started visiting on Sundays. These visits lasted for some 30 years until Uncle John passed away in 1967. I remember him being a very likeable man who greatly enjoyed,just as we kids did, those Sunday visits. We also had seemingly perfect holidays with the Lloyd’s. And I will never forget Uncle John’s love of Cleveland Indians baseball. I would sit there with him as he charted every inning of the game. He also gave me a few art lessons, but these only gave me a deeper respect for his craft than any talent on my part.
Uncle John was considered by his peers to be an extremely talented artist. One thing is for sure: my sister, my brothers, and I were always surrounded by Uncle John’s paintings, and they were both inspirational as well as influential on how we perceive art to this day.
I feel The Butler Institute of American Art and Uncle John had a mutually symbiotic relationship in the early stages of the museum as well as Uncle John’s career. When I look at his exhibition history at The Butler, this current exhibition of his work takes on a whole new meaning for me and I have found it to be an exciting venture in which to be participating!
It goes without saying that I am very appreciative of Dr. Zona and his vision to see Lloyd’s work shown, again, at The Butler some eighty years after its first showing. I would also like to thank curator Margo Jacobs, who worked her magic with outstanding results. In addition to her remarkable curatorial efforts, Margo was also immensely helpful in coordinating all aspects of the exhibition. Kathy Earnhart, The Butler’s Public Relations specialist, was also extremely helpful and did an outstanding job on this catalogue’s layout as well as getting it to press on time. A special thanks is extended to Archivist Pat McCormick for all of his work researching John Lloyd’s exhibition history. Finally, I would like to thank Joe Rudinec and his associates for their excellent work in photographing Lloyd’s paintings for this catalogue. Thanks are also extended to all of the lenders who parted with their works of art to see that this exhibition is an immense success.
In closing I would like to mention that this publication is in loving memory of my Great Uncle John Lloyd, and all of my Lloyd relatives. Also to my mother, Edith Mae Boop and my father Dean Alvah Boop. It is also dedicated to my sister, Dorene Oakley, and my brothers Dean Boop, Jr. and Theodore Boop, as well as their families and descendents. I would also like to thank them for all of their support in this endeavor.
Sincerely,
John L. Boop
Grand-nephew of John L. Lloyd, the artist