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Rico LeBrun was initially educated in banking but, following World War II returned to an interest in art. He attended the Naples Academy of Fine Arts, where he was immersed in Classical art history and studied theories of anatomically correct figuration. He moved to New York in 1924 to work in a stained glass factory and off hours continued his painting practice. After a conflict arose between the WPA and LeBrun, he was forced to abandon a partially completed mural he had been commissioned to complete. This influenced his decision to move to Los Angeles where he began his lengthy teaching career which began at the Chouinard Institute in 1939.

In the symbolic paintings of the 1940s, beggars, cripples, harlequins and clowns became vehicles for communicating the tragic condition of man and what was universally understood: war, slaughter, poverty and struggle. After a short residency in New Orleans and New York, he returned to Santa Barbara in 1944, where began his Farm Implements series as well as his Crucifixion cycle. He was influenced by the ranchlands and the warm light and color of Southern California. In 1947, after a move to Los Angeles, he joined the faculty at the Jepson Art Institute and came to a completion of his Crucifixion theme. Inspired by the Mexican muralist movement, he moved to Mexico and began in 1953 where he began teaching at the Instituto Allende and working in an abstract gestural manner which eventually evolved into bronze sculpture. Whatever the means, LeBrun communicated his compassion for humanity in a powerful and brilliant form of expression.
 

RICO LEBRUN

CHRONOLOGY:

1900             Born in Naples, Italy
1918             Studies at the Naples Academy of Art
1924             Moves to New York
1935-36       Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship
1936-37       Teaches at the Art Student's League of New York
1937-38       Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship
1938-39       Teaches at the Chouinard Art Institute, New York
1940             Teaches at the Walt Disney Studios
1942-43        Teaches at Newcomb Art School
1945             Teaches at Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
1947-50        Teaches at Jepson Art Institute
1947-53        Prizes awarded from the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum,
                     American Academy of Arts and Letters and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
1953-54        Teaches at Instituto Allende, Mexico
1945-46        Artist-in-residence, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
                      Lecturer At Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
1949             Exhibits at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
1950             Biennial shows, Venice, Italy
1951-52        Director of the Jepson Art Institute
1953-55        Exhibits at the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art, Brazil, 1st-3rd Bienal
1956              Taught at the University of California, Los Angeles Yale University, Norfolk, Connecticut
1960             Continues to work and exhibit following retirement
1964             Died in Los Angeles, California