Rico Lebrun papers
name: label: Creator
content: Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964
label: Names
content: Jacques Seligmann & Co
topic: label: Occupation
content: Educators -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Occupation
content: Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: Painting, American
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were donated in 1974 by Lebrun's wife, Constance Lebrun Crown. Additional materials were donated by Crown in 1976.
creator: label: Creator
content: Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964
setName: label: See more items in
content: Rico Lebrun papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Rico Lebrun measure 5.3 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and business correspondence, including extensive correspondence between Lebrun and his gallery, Jacques Seligmann and Co.; writings, including illustrated notebooks; personal business records; printed material; 3 sketchbooks; and photographs of Lebrun, travels in Mexico, and his work.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Painter, muralist, and educator Rico (Frederico) Lebrun (1900-1964) lived and worked in New York City and Los Angeles, California, and his modernist works were primarily influenced by traditional religious iconography and human suffering.

Born in Naples, Italy, Lebrun attended the Naples Academy of Beaux Arts after his military service in the Italian Army during WWI. He began his career as a stained glass designer and was offered a one year contract to work in Springfield, Illinois, for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in 1924. At the end of the contract, Lebrun moved to New York City where he found work as a commercial illustrator for magazines such as Vogue, Fortune, and The New Yorker. After a return to Italy in the early 1930s to continue his art studies, Lebrun moved to New York City in 1936 where he taught at the Art Students League, painted his first mural commission for the Fogg Art Museum with Lewis Rubenstein, and found work as an artist for the WPA.

In 1938, Lebrun moved to Southern California and accepted a position at the Chouinard Art Institute, where his students would include Disney studio animators for Bambi. Lebrun continued to produce paintings while teaching, and his first solo exhibition was organized by Donald Bear, then director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Beginning in 1947, Lebrun spent three years working on over 200 drawings and paintings for the Crucifixion series, which culminated in an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, he continued to teach at the Jepson Institute in Los Angeles and at other institutions, including the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico from 1952 to 1954. In 1958, while teaching at Yale, Lebrun was invited by professor and art critic Peter Selz to create a mural for Pomona College. He completed his plans for the mural during his year-long teaching residency at the American Academy of Rome in 1959, and completed Genesis in 1960. Lebrun died from cancer in 1964.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 5.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1935-1975
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.lebrrico
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1948-1962 (4 folders; Box 1, OV 10)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1935-1973 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 10)

Series 3: Writings, 1938-1964 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1940-1964 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3, BV 7)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1940-1975 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3, BV 8-9)

Series 6: Artwork, circa 1950-1965 (3 folders; Box 3)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1950-1965 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-6)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: A portion of the papers received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and were microfilmed onto reels 2709-2714. The collection was re-processed and a finding aid prepared by Judy Ng in 2015, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of this collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 2709-2714 at the Archives of American Art offices, and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Rico Lebrun measure 5.3 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and business correspondence, including extensive correspondence between Lebrun and his gallery, Jacques Seligmann and Co.; writings, including illustrated notebooks; personal business records; printed material; 3 sketchbooks; and photographs of Lebrun, travels in Mexico, and his work.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun conducted by Paul Karlstrom, November 23, 1974. Syracuse University also holds papers of Rico Lebrun.