Lutz’s art demonstrates the changes that occurred during the late 1940s among California watercolor painters as the use of more opaque pigment and expressionist handling became popular. Lutz painted Rehearsal in somber blacks and grays -- a palette common to his paintings of the period -- that do not distract from the power of his brush. With heavy, gestural strokes he captured the outlines of the musicians. Lutz stated, "Music has always been a great love-possibly as great to me as is painting." His father was a choral director, and Lutz enjoyed playing the bassoon, often accompanying his wife, who was a professional musician, and friends in impromptu concerts. The traveling fellowship Lutz won in 1932 was for a painting he made of the Chicago Symphony, entitled The Orchestra, 1931 (unlocated). During the early 1940s he often painted musical subjects, many inspired by Negro spirituals and jazz, such as The Gospel Train, by 1940 (formerly collection of Aline Barnsdall), and Jam Session, by 1945 (formerly collection of Artie Shaw). Lutz was praised for his ability to capture in paint the feeling of different types of music ("Art," California Arts and Architecture 57 [November 1940]: 6). In Rehearsal he clearly conveys the seriousness and deep resonance of the music.