William Theophilus Brown, Bay Area Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media Collage Painting Theophilus Brown, 2001

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WILLIAM THEOPHILUS BROWN (American, 1919-2012), "For Steve," Hand signed, dated, and titled at lower margin. Abstract Composition, 2001, Acrylic on … Read more WILLIAM THEOPHILUS BROWN (American, 1919-2012), "For Steve," Hand signed, dated, and titled at lower margin. Abstract Composition, 2001, Acrylic on paper collage, Dimensions - Sheet: 9 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches); Frame 12 x 10 inches William Theophilus Brown (1919 – 2012) was an American artist. He became prominent as a member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. A descendant of early-American intellectuals, Brown was born in Moline, Illinois. His great-grandfather was friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Brown's father was an inventor and chief designer, at the John Deere Company in Moline, Illinois. While attending Yale University in the late-1930s, Brown met composer Paul Hindemith and poet May Sarton, with whom he would share lifetime friendships. After graduating in 1941, Brown was drafted in World War II. Following his discharge, he began to study painting, moving between New York City and Paris, meeting an impressive range of artists that included Pablo Picasso, George Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Balthus, and Willem de Kooning, among others. Brown, who studied piano at Yale, was also close to a number of composers, including John Cage, Poulenc, Samuel Barber, and Igor Stravinsky. In 1952 Brown enrolled in the graduate studio program at the University of California, Berkeley, joining a group of artists—including Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Rex Ashlock, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud, Raimonds Staprans, James Weeks, and Nathan Oliveira — that would later be known as the Bay Area Figurative Movement. While attending Berkeley, Brown also met his long-time partner and fellow-painter, Paul Wonner. Long associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement, Brown had his first solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1957. When he returned from a European trip in 1954 his work took a more concentrated turn toward the male figure. Both Brown and Paul Wonner were included in the historic Paul Mills exhibition at the Oakland Art Museum, “Contemporary Bay Area Figurative Painting,” in 1957. Brown continued his exploration of the figure well into the 1960’s, experimenting with abstraction, light and color.In the early 1960s, Brown and Wonner moved to Santa Monica, where they developed a close friendship with fellow gay couple, novelist Christopher Isherwood, and portrait artist Don Bachardy. Over the years, Brown and Wonner also fostered friendships with playwright William Inge, composer and conductor André Previn, actress Eva Marie Saint and her husband, director Jeffrey Hayden, and New Zealand novelist Janet Frame. In his later years, Brown still managed to paint daily. Theophilus Brown resided in San Francisco, California at the time of his death. His papers are held at the Archives of American Art. Bay Area Art; Many of the "First Generation" artists in this movement were avid fans of Abstract Expressionism, and worked in that manner, until several of them abandoned non-objective painting in favor of working with the figure. The "Bridge Generation" included the artists Henrietta Berk, Nathan Oliveira, Theophilus Brown, Paul Wonner, Roland Petersen, John Hultberg, and Frank Lobdell. Many "Second Generation" artists of this movement studied under the First Generation artists, or were late starters. Among these Second Generation artists were Bruce McGaw, Henry Villierme, Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, and Robert Qualters. See less