The Brand Library Art Galleries will feature a complete survey of the art of long time Glendale resident Robert Brown, one of southern California’s most important, creative, and prolific 20th Century visual artists. All works in this exhibition will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting the Associates of Brand Library & Art Center.
This exhibition presents a unique opportunity to view a lifetime’s worth of artistic achievement while supporting the Associates of Brand Library, a non-profit organization whose mission is to aid and support Brand Library programs, collections, and facilities.
Robert Brown was born in San Francisco in 1917. He received his Bachelor of Arts from San Francisco State College and Masters of Fine arts degrees from both the California College of Arts and Crafts and the University of Southern California.
Brown was a Professor of Fine Art at Glendale Community College and taught there from 1948 to 1983. In his retirement year, GCC mounted a retrospective show of 55 of his serigraphs.
From the late 1940's to the early 1980's Brown was a prolific and master printmaker, producing strong, thought-provoking and often humorous works that spanned many styles, from figurative and abstract to pop art. In addition to his graphic works, he created contemporary stained glass pieces. Brown's 52 foot architectural glass panel commissioned by The First United Methodist Church in Glendale is still on view. Additional art glass panels appear in The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills, Temple Adat Ari El of Valley Village, and in the Daily House, a designated landmark residence in Glendale. Brown's work is held in private collections across the United States.
Throughout his long career he developed new means of expression. In addition to his iconic print and glass works his oeuvre includes photography, drawings, collage, woodcuts, and ceramics. His decorative works—wallpapers, murals, textiles—are in private and public collections throughout southern California.
Mr. Brown was an active member of the Western Serigraph Institute and an Honorary Artist of the Pasadena Society of Artists. He also served as president of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society foundation.
Mr. Brown died in October, 2009 in Glendale at the age of 92. His daughter Jan Reilly made a gift of his works to the Associates of Brand Library as Mr. Brown loved the library and had exhibited his work there many times. His pieces entitled “Suburbia” and “Opposite but Equal” received the Brand Associates Purchase Award and are part of the Associates’ permanent collection.
Location: MAP
1601 West Mountain Street
Glendale, California 91201-1200
818-548-2051
818-548-5079 FAX
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