Draughtsman and art historian George Kreskentevich Loukomski (also known as George Lukomski) was born in Kaluga, Russia on 14 March 1884 into an old noble family. He trained in the architectural department of the Kazan Art School (1901–1903), then in the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He became known as an art historian and critic, and also practised as a painter. He was part of the Mir iskusstva [The World of Art] circle of Russian artists (1898–1904) and edited the famous magazine of the same title. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he emigrated, settling in Western Europe, working mainly as an art historian and, as an artist, specialising in architectural works.
Loukomski came to England in 1940 at the start of the Second World War. His association with the British cultural scene, however, started a few years previously as the Ben Uri Minutes for 1933–1936 show that at a meeting on 4 October 1934 'it was suggested to have a Lukomski exhibition of synagogue drawing [sic]'. The 'Exhibition of Water Colours, Drawings and Sketches of Old Synagogues in Poland and Eastern Europe XVth to XVIIth Centuries' took place at Ben Uri Jewish Art Gallery at Woburn House, Upper Woburn Place, London WC1 from January 13th to 28th 1935 and featured 41 works: 21 'General Aspects of Ghettoes' and the remainder of stone synagogues. The exhibition was one of a series of displays of Loukomski's drawings documenting the architecture and interiors of Eastern European synagogues, which subsequently took place in other London venues, as well as in galleries in France and Portugal. Loukomski spent the last years of his life in France and died in Nice on 5 March 1952. His works are held in major Russian museums, as well as in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
