biography of Rico LEBRUN (1900-1964)

Birth place: Naples, Italy

Death place: Malibu, CA

Addresses: Los Angeles, CA

Profession: Painter, muralist, sculptor, designer, printmaker, teacher

Studied: Beaux-Arts Acad., Naples,1918-22.

Exhibited: Colorado Springs FAC, 1941, 1946, 1951; CAM, 1945; LACMA, 1945, 1948 (prize)-1951; CI, 1945, 1952, 1955; PAFA Ann., 1945, 1951-53 (gold medal), 1956-62 (prize); AIC, 1947 (prize), 1948, 1951, 1955 (solo); WMAA, 1938-63; Scripps College, 1949; Cal. PLH, 1949, 1952; Art Gal., Toronto, 1949, 1958 (solo); CM, 1950; Venice Biennale, 1950; MMA, 1950 (prize); Univ. Illinois, 1949 (prize), 1951; Univ. Minnesota, 1951; BM, 1951; Am. Acad. Arts & Letters, 1952 (prize); S„o Paulo, Brazil, 1953, 1955; Pomona College, 1956 (solo); Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1957-63 (4 times); Yale Univ., 1958 (solo); Los Angeles Mus. Art, 1967 (retrospective). Other awards: Guggenheim fellowship, 1936-37 & 1937-38.

Member: AEA.

Work: Encyclopaedia Britannica Coll.; LACMA; MMA; Munson-Williams-Proctor Inst.; MoMA; Santa Barbara Mus. Art; Univ. Illinois; Univ. Nebraska; FMA; BMFA; Columbus Gal. FA; William Rockhill Nelson Gal. Art; RISD; St. Paul Gal. & Sch. Art; Univ. Hawaii; WMAA; deYoung Mem. Mus.; Syracuse Mus. FA.

Comments: He designed stained glass in Naples (1922-24), and in Springfield, IL (1924) before settling in NYC as a commercial artist. On several return trips to Naples he studied fresco painting and in 1936 began a mural for the Penn Station Post Office Annex in NYC (never completed). Moved to California in 1938. In 1954 he began work on his Buchenwald series, a dramatic exploration of the horrors of WWII. Turned to sculpture in 1962. Teaching: ASL, 1936-37; Chouinard AI, 1938-39; Walt Disney Studios, 1940; Newcomb Art Sch., 1942-43; Colo. Springs FAC, 1945; Jepson AI, 1947-50; Inst. Allende, Mexico, 1953-54; UCLA summer schools, 1956-57; Yale-Norfolk Sch., Norfolk, CY, 1956; Yale Univ., 1958-59.

Sources: WW59; WW40; Baigell, Dictionary; Falk, Exh. Record Series.