Maurice Braun (1877-1941)
Maurice Braun was born in Nagy Bittse, Hungary, October, 1877, and was brought at the age of four by his parents to New York City. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a jeweler, but soon revolted. Subsequent training included study at the National Academy of Design with William Merritt Chase and then a year in Europe. He came to San Diego in 1910.
Principally acknowledged as a landscape artist, the light and airy style and the technique of the French Impressionists and Chase seemed to have left their influence upon Braun. His sympathy for the California scene be attributed to the appeal of "its bigness, its richness and its optimism." Prior to his working in San Diego, he executed few landscapes. On a trip to New York City in 1921, he discovered he was known as the "Painter of the East and of the West." He died of a heart attack November 7, 1941. One unknown writer expressed the opinion that Braun "put San Diego on the national art scene."
Mrs. Braun (Hazel Boyer) wrote the art column for one of the city's cosmopolitan newspapers and helped publicize the group in addition to most of the community's art activities. Both had been profoundly active in the Theosophical Society which undoubtedly affected their theories of art.
[above by Martin E. Petersen, Curator of Western Arts at the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego]
From the Journal of San Diego History:
The Artist Maurice Braun: Aesthetic and Philosophic ValuesOrder prints of images from the Photo Archives of the San Diego Historical Society. Print out the photos you want reproduced, with the SDHS photo number. This will help us know exactly what photos you want.
