Louis Abrahams

Louis Abrahams (1852 – 2 December 1903) was a British-born Australian tobacconist, art patron, painter and etcher associated with the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian Impressionism.

Early life Born in London, England, Abrahams arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, as an eight-year-old with his family in 1860.

Career and association with the Heidelberg School Later that decade, Abrahams attended the Artisans School of Design in Carlton, where he met Frederick McCubbin. His body was found in a basement toilet at his factory, "with a bullet wound in the head and a revolver clenched in both hands".

Abrahams' personal art collection was passed down to his grandson, architect Sir Denys Lasdun, best-known for designing the Royal National Theatre complex on London's South Bank.

Abrahams Crescent in the Canberra suburb of Conder is named in his honour.

Abrahams's nephew was Louis Henry Abrahams (1891 – 1940), son of Abrahams's brother Lawrence, and a founder of Astor Radio.

Gallery