After living in Santa Fe, Lotave lived for a time in Paris. He went to New York City after World War I to paint portraits of Americans who gained notoriety during the war. He was hired in 1917 to paint the portrait of General Joseph Joffre, "the hero of the Marne", when the French Commission came to New York. Over his career, he painted portraits of King Albert, Premier Eleftherios Venizelos, General John J. Pershing, and General Paul von Hindenburg. He painted two portraits of Abraham Lincoln; One called 1861 was painted by Lotave in 1898.
