Class of Summer 1929
Maurice Braun
b. Nagy-Bittse, Hungary, 1877
d. San Diego, California, 1941
California Hills, 1924
Oil on canvas
36 x 42 inches
Maurice Braun was a deeply philosophical painter for whom nature was an expression of the divine. The leading California Impressionist based in San Diego, Braun moved to the area in 1909 due to his interest in theosophy. He lived at Pt. Loma and was affiliated with the Theosophical Society, which looked upon art as a way to educe transcendental ideas. Braun had studied with William Merritt Chase, who introduced many painters to the broken brushwork and palette of French Impressionism. Braun’s high-keyed, airy painting of low hills, covered with the golden grasses of summer, shimmers with a diffuse atmospheric haze, quintessentially signaling the heat of the season.
GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School, 1919-1956 is organized by the GHS Art Collection, Inc, in association with the Gardena High School Student Body and curated by Susan M. Anderson.
