John C. Brown (1934-)
"Grey Head"
Acrylic, 1966
LFAC #144
Biography
John C. Brown was born in 1934 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. After studying landscape architecture
for two years at Iowa State University, his interest shifted to art. He received his BA with a major in art
from Iowa State Teacher’s College (now University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls in 1956. After a tour of
duty in the U.S. Army, he established a studio in Cedar Falls. He also worked as a commercial artist for a
firm in Waterloo, Iowa, and eventually opened his own studio. From 1969 to 1977, he was an Assistant Professor
of Art at the University of Northern Iowa. After teaching, he worked as an artist in several locations ultimately
residing in Florida. He has exhibited widely in a number of states.
Brown exhibited in the Oil/Polymer Painting Show which was part of the Fine Arts Festival of March 10-20, 1967. The
painting which was purchased from this Festival, "Grey Head," was one of a series of self-portraits painted in the late
nineteen-sixties. Brown said it was the smallest of the major portraits in the series and perhaps the most elegant.
He explained that the three small head representations at the top simply take the elements that distinguish this
particular face and render them in the three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. This serves to make the eye jump
around the painting surface. As a result, the larger grey head becomes colored by the brain and eyes of the viewer.
Other paintings by Brown in the Fine Arts Collection were not part of the Fine Arts Festival series but instead were
donated at a later time by the artist. "Deep Woods Event" (FAC #966), a watercolor and mixed media work donated by Brown
in 1993, was part of a series of works combining transparent watercolor with other water media through thick, opaque
paint. Most of the thicker paint is acrylic. "Poppy (she was so yellow-moving thru the warm fields)" (FAC #1996:06:01) is
a diptych that was given to the Collection by the artist in 1996. Brown said at the time of the donation that the
painting contained some strong autobiographical elements. He pointed out the K shape in the middle of the left panel
which he said could be the head of a very abstract, self-portrait. The painting is installed in the Center for the Arts
on the Luther College campus.
Ref: Daily Record (Cedar Falls), July 26, 1968; Fine Arts Collection files
John C. Brown (1934-)
"Deep Woods Event"
Watercolor, 1992
LFAC #966
John C. Brown (1934-)
"Poppy (she was so yellow-moving thru the warm fields)"
Acrylic, 1975
LFAC #144
