Theodore Clement Steele, American, 1847–1926
c. 1873
Oil on canvas
49.53 cm x 38.1 cm | 19 1/2 in x 15 in
Framed 63.81 cm x 52.70 cm x 3.49 cm | 25-1/8 in x 20-3/4 x 1-3/8 in
Signed lower right, T.C. Steele
Accession: 64.759
Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Gift of Mrs. Edward L. Pedlow
Thomas Lakin (1790 – 1874) is the grandfather of Mary Elizabeth “Libbie” (Lakin) Steele. He lived in Rushville, Indiana and died in 1874, at age 83.
Steele painted this portrait of Thomas Lakin after his return to Indiana in 1873 from Battle Creek, Michigan. The date of this portrait is very early in Steele’s career.
“Upon their return to Indiana Steele painted several portraits in Rushville, including one or more of Libbie’s grandfather Thomas Lakin” ¹
Return from Battle Creek, Michigan
T.C. Steele and Mary (Libbie) Elizabeth Lakin met at Waveland Collegiate Institute, in Waveland, Indiana where Steele enrolled in 1859. Their exact graduation date is unknown, but Steeles’ journal reveals he was earning a living as a portrait painter by 1870. They married on February 14, 1870, in Rushville, Indiana (Libbie’s hometown) and left a few weeks after their wedding for Battle Creek, Michigan. The reason for moving to Battle Creek is not clear, but orders for commissioned portraits appear to be the motivation. By the time he left Battle Creek, his interests in the outdoor subjects of landscapes and nature were beginning to develop and he writes about this in his journal in July of 1870.¹
Steele’s studio in Battle Creek focused on photographic portraiture. He dabbled in photography for much of his life, but as far as we know this was his only attempt to make a living at it. There are copies in the American Archives of Art files at the site of newspaper advertisements as well as a few photographs.²
Thomas Lakin is buried in East Hill Cemetery, Rushville, Indiana. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also the final resting place of Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892 – 1944) who was the 1940 Republican candidate for President of the United States, losing to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
¹ The House of the Singing Winds: The Life and Work of T.C. Steele; Steele, Selma N., Steele Theodore L., and Wilbur Peat, Indiana Historical Society, 1966, pg. 10.
² Interview, Andrea Smith deTarnowsky, Manager, T.C. Steele State Historic Site (retired), 2023.