Theophilus Brown
Encyclopedia
William Theophilus Brown (April 7, 1919) is an American artist born in Moline, Illinois
. He became prominent as a member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.
and Henry David Thoreau
. Brown's father was an inventor and worked as the head of the experimental department of the John Deere
Company in Moline, Illinois.
While attending Yale
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
, Braque, Giacometti, Balthus
, and de Kooning
, among others. Brown, who studied piano at Yale, was also close to a number of composers, including 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, Elmer Bischoff
, James Weeks, and Nathan Oliveira
—that would later be known as the Bay Area Figurative Movement. While attending Berkeley, Brown also met and fell in love with his long-time partner and fellow-painter, Paul Wonner
.
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 Andre Previn
, actress Eva Marie Saint
and her husband, director Jeffery Hayden, and New Zealand
novelist Janet Frame
.
Brown still resides in San Francisco, California
and paints daily.
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
. He became prominent as a member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.
Background and career
A descendant of early-American intellectuals, Brown's great-grandfather was friends with Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
and Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
. Brown's father was an inventor and worked as the head of the experimental department of the John Deere
John Deere
John Deere was an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company, one of the largest and leading agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world...
Company in Moline, Illinois.
While attending Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in the late-1930s, Brown met composer Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
and poet May Sarton
May Sarton
May Sarton is the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton , an American poet, novelist, and memoirist.-Biography:...
, with whom he would share lifetime friendships. After graduating in 1941, Brown was drafted in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Following his discharge, he began to study painting, moving between New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, meeting an impressive range of artists that included Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Braque, Giacometti, Balthus
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola , best known as Balthus, was an esteemed but controversial Polish-French modern artist....
, and de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, among others. Brown, who studied piano at Yale, was also close to a number of composers, including Poulenc, Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
.
In 1952 Brown enrolled in the graduate studio program at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, joining a group of artists—including Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...
, David Park, Elmer Bischoff
Elmer Bischoff
Elmer Nelson Bischoff was a visual artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.Bischoff, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, was part of the post-World War II generation of artists who started as abstract painters and found their way back to figurative art.-Biography:Elmer Bischoff, second...
, James Weeks, and Nathan Oliveira
Nathan Oliveira
Nathan Oliveira was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, born in Oakland, California to Portuguese parents...
—that would later be known as the Bay Area Figurative Movement. While attending Berkeley, Brown also met and fell in love with his long-time partner and fellow-painter, Paul Wonner
Paul Wonner
Paul John Wonner was an American artist who was born in Tucson, Arizona. He received a B.A. in 1952, an M.A. in 1953, and an M.L.S. in 1955―all from the University of California, Berkeley...
.
In the early 1960s, Brown and Wonner moved to Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, where they developed a close friendship with fellow gay couple, novelist Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
and portrait artist Don Bachardy
Don Bachardy
Donald Jess "Don" Bachardy is an American portrait artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California.- Life and work :Born in Los Angeles, California, Bachardy was the life partner of writer Christopher Isherwood, whom he met on Valentine's Day 1953, when he was 18 and Isherwood was 48. They...
. Over the years, Brown and Wonner also fostered friendships with playwright William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
, composer and conductor Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
, actress Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
and her husband, director Jeffery Hayden, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
novelist Janet Frame
Janet Frame
Janet Paterson Frame, ONZ, CBE was a New Zealand author. She wrote eleven novels, four collections of short stories, a book of poetry, an edition of juvenile fiction, and three volumes of autobiography during her lifetime. Since her death, a twelfth novel, a second volume of poetry, and a handful...
.
Brown still resides in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and paints daily.