Rico (Federico) Lebrun (Naples, December 10, 1900 – Malibu, May 9, 1964) was an Italian-American painter and sculptor.
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Rico_Lebrun%27s_Genesis_at_Pomona_College.jpg/220px-Rico_Lebrun%27s_Genesis_at_Pomona_College.jpg)
Early life
editLebrun was born in 1900 in Naples, Italy.[4] He initially studied banking and journalism before taking art classes at the Naples Academy of Fine Arts from 1919 to 1921.[4] Following this he went to Florence, where he studied as a muralist.[4] He received practical training at a stained-glass factory.[5]
Artistic career
editAfter emigrating to the United States in 1924,[5] he worked as a commercial artist in Pittsburgh and New York for several years. In the early 1930s he returned to Italy where he studied the frescoes of Luca Signorelli.[4] He moved to California in 1936. He exhibited in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto. In the mid-1950s, his work focused on the experience of the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.[4] He is best known for his series of paintings on "The Crucifixion."[6]
Teaching
editIn 1940, Lebrun taught at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, then at the Jepson Art Institute, also in L.A., from 1947–50, directing it from 1951-54 when it closed. In 1938 for one year and half, he presided art drawing classes at Disney during the production of Bambi.[7] In 1958 Lebrun was a visiting lecturer of art at Yale University.[8] He also taught at UCLA, Tulane University.and the Art Students' League of New York.[4]
Personal life
editLeBrun was survived by his filmmaker son David (b. 1944),[9] his widow, Constance, his mother, Assunta Lebrun, brother, Eugenio and sister, Maria.[4]
Awards
edit- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1936–37)[10]
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1937–38)[10]
- First Prize, "Abstract & Surrealist American Art", The Art Institute of Chicago (1947)
- Norman Wait Harris Silver Medal, The Art Institute of Chicago (1947)
- First Prize, "Artists of Los Angeles & Vicinity", Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1948)[11]
- Purchase Prize, "Illinois National Exhibition of Contemporary Painting", University of Illinois (1949)
- Second Prize, "American Painting Today", The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1950)[12]
- Award of Merit of the American Academy of Arts & Letters for "Outstanding achievement in the past five years in paintings" (1952)[4]
- Temple Gold Medal, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1953)[13]
- Lippincott Prize, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1962)[14]
- Elected into the National Academy of Design (1962)[15]
- Purchase Award, "Third Biennial National Print Exhibit", Pasadena Art Museum (1962)[13]
- Joseph Pennell Award, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1963)[13]
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1962–63)[10]
Collections
editLebrun's papers are held in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.[16] His work is included in numerous collections, including:
- the Museum of Modern Art, New York,[17]
- the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,[18]
- the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York[19]
- the Whitney Museum of American Art,[20]
- The Jewish Museum, New York,[21]
- the North Carolina Museum of Art,[22]
- the Benton Museum of Art,[23]
- the Santa Barbara Museum of Art,[24]
- the Vincent Price museum of Art,[25]
- the Harvard Art Museum,[26]
- the Museo ItaloAmericano,[27] and
- the Claremont Museum of Art.[28]
- the Collection of Modern Religious Art, Vatican Museums[29]
References
edit- ^ "Rico Lebrun's Genesis". Pomona College Museum of Art. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Sutton, Frances (29 April 2020). "Framed: 'Genesis' is the divine judgment above Frary's steps". The Student Life. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Lyon, E. Wilson (1977). The History of Pomona College, 1887–1969. The Castle Press. pp. 485–487.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Rico Lebrun, Artist, 63, Dead; Expressionist Painted Murals; Work Is Represented in Major Museums — Theme Was Good and Evil in Man". New York Times. 11 May 1964. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ a b "Drawings by Rico Lebrun - News - The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Drawings by Rico Lebrun at the Mirski Gallery". The Harvard Crimson. September 27, 1963. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (2008). The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. University of California Press. pp. 148–149. ISBN 9780520256194.
- ^ Menil collection (Houston, Tex.).; Eva Hesse; Drawing center (New York).; Drawing Center (New York, N.Y.), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, Minn.)., Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Calif.) (2006). Eva Hesse Drawing. Yale University Press. pp. 52–. ISBN 0-300-11618-7.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ The Hog Farm Movie, 1967. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation - Rico Lebrun". www.gf.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Rico Lebrun - Biography". rogallery.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c Fine Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor (1964). Rico Lebrun: an exhibition organized by the Fine Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor in collaboration with the Newport Harbor Service League. Presented at the following participating galleries: Pavilion Gallery, Newport Beach, California, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colo., Portland Art Museum, Portland, Ore.
- ^ Ellen C. Oppler; Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery (Syracuse University) (1983). Rico Lebrun: transformations/transfiguration, "--changing what is disfigured into what is transfigured" : 13 November 1983-18 January 1984, Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, School of Art, College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Gallery.
- ^ Art Direction. Advertising Trade Publications. 1962. Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Lebrrico" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Rico Lebrun - MoMA". www.moma.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ "Rico Lebrun - LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ "Turtle Soldier 1949". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "Whitney Museum of American Art: Rico Lebrun". collection.whitney.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ "The Jewish Museum". thejewishmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
- ^ "Art works of Rico Lebrun". Archived from the original on 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Rico Lebrun". 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Rico LEBRUN - Artists - eMuseum". collections.sbma.net. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Vincent Price Art Museum - Collections". vincentpriceartmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Art for viewers' sake". 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Lebrun, Rico – Women at the Cross - Museo Italo Americano".
- ^ "Permanent Collection - Claremont Museum of Art". claremontmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Collezione d'arte religiosa moderna – Musei Vaticani". 24 August 2020.