Carolyn Brady
Encyclopedia
Carolyn Brady was an American photorealist
painter and artist, most known for her large, hyper-realistic watercolors of flowers and table settings.
(she sub-let his apartment in 1962) and later identified him as her largest influence.
In 1972, amply fulfilling a desire to do something more "real", Brady switched from fabric panels to watercolor and was soon producing photo-realistic works of complex color, texture, and intricacy. In her obituary, the New York Times stated, "With their sharp focus, luminous colors and dimensions as great as 60 by 90 inches, her paintings have a hyper-realistic visual impact rarely encountered in the medium of watercolor."
Her works gradually increased in complexity and size. Her largest works (5 feet by 7.5 feet) were meticulously rendered fields of blooming flowers painted to the very edge of the paper. In the 1980s, table place settings, sometimes clean, sometimes with food partly consumed, became a favorite and frequent subject. "Her sensual and psychological appreciation for the elements of her meals takes them out of the category of reportage and into poetry."
(Maryland), the National Museum of American Art
(Washington, DC), the Miyagi Museum of Art (Miyagi, Japan), the Orlando Museum of Art
(Florida), the Museum of Modern Art
(San Francisco), and the National Academy of Design
(New York).
Her works are currently in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York), the National Museum of American Art
, (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), the Art Institute of Chicago
(Illinois), the Saint Louis Art Museum
(Missouri), and many others.
Photorealism
Photorealism is the genre of painting based on using the camera and photographs to gather information and then from this information creating a painting that appears photographic...
painter and artist, most known for her large, hyper-realistic watercolors of flowers and table settings.
Early Works
Carolyn Brady studied art at the University of Oklahoma in Norman from 1958 to 1961 before moving to New York. Her early professional works consisted of large fabric panels of linen appliqué often with a literal component, probably inspired by her first job in New York as a textile designer. Most had vibrant, saturated colors with little or no shading, and used furniture or interior scenes for their subject matter.Watercolors
Early on, Brady became acquainted with the photorealist Joseph RaffaelJoseph Raffael
Joseph Raffael is an American contemporary realist painter.His paintings are almost all presented on a very large scale.He lives with his wife, Lannis Raffael in the south of France....
(she sub-let his apartment in 1962) and later identified him as her largest influence.
In 1972, amply fulfilling a desire to do something more "real", Brady switched from fabric panels to watercolor and was soon producing photo-realistic works of complex color, texture, and intricacy. In her obituary, the New York Times stated, "With their sharp focus, luminous colors and dimensions as great as 60 by 90 inches, her paintings have a hyper-realistic visual impact rarely encountered in the medium of watercolor."
Her works gradually increased in complexity and size. Her largest works (5 feet by 7.5 feet) were meticulously rendered fields of blooming flowers painted to the very edge of the paper. In the 1980s, table place settings, sometimes clean, sometimes with food partly consumed, became a favorite and frequent subject. "Her sensual and psychological appreciation for the elements of her meals takes them out of the category of reportage and into poetry."
Exhibitions and Collections
Brady's works have been exhibited in museums around the world, including the Baltimore Museum of ArtBaltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, was founded in 1914. Built in the Roman Temple style, the Museum is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works...
(Maryland), the National Museum of American Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
(Washington, DC), the Miyagi Museum of Art (Miyagi, Japan), the Orlando Museum of Art
Orlando Museum of Art
The Orlando Museum of Art is located at 2416 North Mills Avenue, Orlando, Florida. It houses local, regional, national and international works of art. The museum collections include a diverse range of pieces that cover a broad spectrum of subjects using a variety of artistic mediums.-Websites:* *....
(Florida), the Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
(San Francisco), and the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
(New York).
Her works are currently in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(New York), the National Museum of American Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
, (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
(Illinois), the Saint Louis Art Museum
Saint Louis Art Museum
The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.Located in Forest Park in St...
(Missouri), and many others.