Paul Desmond Brown

A relative of interest: Paul Brown was my great uncle, the brother of my paternal grandmother. In his day, he became quite a famous equine illustrator. He was the author of several books, and provided drawings for many others.

Born in Mapleton, Minnesota in 1893, he moved to New York with his family when he was a young boy. A quote from his biography: "Paul Brown told his host on a radio interview held in September of 1956, 'One day in 1904, I got 50 cents someplace and went over to the National Horse Show at the old Madison Square Garden and saw 'fine leppers,' [a term used for jumpers] as we called them, and Thoroughbreds for the first time.' From then on he appeared to be hooked on drawing horses."

And more from his biography: "The 1930s were the defining decade for Mr. Brown's career. In 1932 he began his association with the famed clothiers Brooks Brothers of New York City. In the succeeding twenty-five years he produced over one thousand drawings that the firm used in advertising, promotional items like glasses, ice buckets, plates, ash trays and Christmas cards. Brooks Brothers also published a series of Paul Brown illustrated, limited edition calendars in the 1940s and early 1950s which have now become highly collectible."

Occasionally, I come across a Paul Brown drawing or a painting for sale on eBay, or at auction houses, but I can never afford the prices they bring. Luckily, I have inherited several original sketches, and watercolours.

In this photograph, you can see a framed print of race horses. It is signed in pencil, "Scramble" drawn for Caliente by Paul Brown. Also a biography "Paul Brown Master of Equine Art" by M.L. Biscotti, Hobby Horse Hill by Lavinia R. Davis, which was illustrated by Brown, and a World War I portrait of the artist as a young man.