Donna Stein papers on Thomas Wilfred

Thomas Wilfred

Thomas Wilfred was a kinetic light artist whose body of work consists of compositions that he called "Lumia." He was born Richard Edgar Løvstrøm on June 18, 1889 in Naestved, Denmark. Wilfred trained as both an artist and a musician, starting both drawing classes and piano lessons in 1903. In 1908 he moved to Paris, France, to study painting, sculpture, and voice at the Sorbonne, although he never earned a degree there. Beyond the piano, he also learned how to play the archlute, a European folk instrument. Both his art training and musical training would play important roles in developing his Lumia compositions. He also was a freelance newspaper journalist and wrote and published poetry. In 1913, he took the professional name Thomas Wilfred for his musical career, which he would continue to use as an artist. He served in the Royal Danish Army during World War I. After finishing his military service in 1916, he moved to the United States.

Wilfred's earliest memory was of his father using a faceted crystal egg as a prism to project colors on a wall to entertain Wilfred. He started experimenting with refracting light in 1905 with a cigar box, an incandescent lamp, colored glass, and lenses. He also studied theoretical works on light that related colors on the light spectrum with musical scales. His work progressed to projecting different colors on a screen by playing a keyboard instrument he built called a clavilux. Wilfred started performing at his first studio in South Huntington, New York as well as performing at concerts at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, New York, Queen's Hall in London, England, and the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also created several standalone compositions, many as commissions. In 1930, he founded the Art Institute of Light to serve as a place of study for artists wishing to work in Lumia. Wilfred died on August 15, 1968 in Nyack, New York.

Donna Stein

Donna Stein is the Deputy Director of the Wende Museum in Culver City, California. She is also an art historian, art critic, and curator. She has studied at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She has curated exhibitions in museums in the United States, Europe, and Asia.