Melbourne Brindle (1904 - 1995)

Artist. Born Ewart Melbourne Brindle, he began drawing as a teenager and in 1918 moved to San Francisco, where he worked on department store advertisements and painted several scenes, including a now well known one of a tower on the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1938 he relocated to the eastern United States and illustrated for […]

Sophie Alexandrine Croizette (1970 - 1901)

Actress.  Born in St. Petersburg,  Russia to French parents,  Croizette was raised in Paris and debuted at the Comedie-Francaise in 1868,  where she was one of the company’s reigning divas for a dozen years.  For a time she was considered a fierce rival of Sarah Bernhardt but the latter denied this in her autobiography,  claiming […]

Norman Ray Bridwell (1928 - 2014)

American Author and Cartoonist. Bridwell was best known for his “Clifford the Big Red Dog” book series. Norman was born in 1928 at Kokomo, Indiana.He graduated Kokomo High School in 1945.By 1962, Bridwell was married to his wife Norma, and they had an infant daughter Emily Elizabeth, as well as a son named Timothy. At […]

Mary Jane Croft (1916 - 1999)

Actress. She began her career in radio, appearing on such programs as “The Adventures of Sam Spade”, “The Bill Goodwin Show”, “Four-Star Playhouse”, “Blonde” and “The Mel Blanc Show”. For television she was best known for her roles as Betty Ramsey on “I Love Lucy”, Mary Jane Lewis on “The Lucy Show” and as Clara […]

William J. Brice Arnstein (1921 - 2008)

Artist. Best known for his grand-scale abstract paintings. His work appears in permanent collections of major museums across the country including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He taught at the […]

John Brewster (1766 - 1854)

Artist. Born deaf, he was one of eight children of Dr. John Brewster and Mary Durkee Brewster of Hampton, Connecticut. He was apparently taught at an early age to communicate through signs and symbols. He received instruction in painting from the Reverend Joseph Steward and in the 1790s, Brewster traveled through the American Northeast in […]

Jules Breton (1827 - 1906)

Painter and poet. Born to a well-known family from Courrières, a small village in northern France.  His father was a landowner, though also worked as assistant judge and mayor, and managed the estate of the Duke of Duras. His mother died when Jules was just four years old, leaving him and his two brothers to […]

André Breton (1896 - 1966)

Poet, Author, Essayist, Founder of Surrealism. André Breton was born in the Normandy village of Tinchebray, the only child of shopkeepers.  His mother wanted him to become a physician and he went to Paris to study medicine.  While there his interests turned to art and literature.  He served as a medic during World War I […]

Fanny Cradock (1909 - 1994)

Television Figure, Author. Born Phyllis Nan Primrose-Pechey, she is considered the first ever celebrity television cook, appearing with her monocle clad, henpecked husband Major Johnnie Cradock from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Known for her harsh and elaborate demeanour her T.V career began in 1955 with her first programme, ‘Fanny’s Kitchen’, which introduced her famous […]

John E. Brent (1889 - 1962)

Architect. He was Buffalo’s first professional African-American architect and the second African-American to design a “colored” YMCA, Buffalo’s Michigan Avenue YMCA. He was also a founding member of the Buffalo chapter of the NAACP.  (bio by: Deleon Todd)

Phyllis Grayce Cox (1928 - 2004)

Actress. She was Shirley Temple’s understudy and was an original member of the “Our Gang” comedy series. She studied dance with Bill “Beaujangles” Robinson, and danced with Gene Kelly. She could have been a star, but chose instead to fulfill her life’s role as a daughter, niece, wife, mother and grandmother. (bio by: John “J-Cat” […]

Victor David Brenner (1871 - 1924)

Sculptor. He was the designer of the United States Lincoln Cent, the most widely reproduced work of art in America; billions have been minted since production began in 1909. He produced over 125 different medals, badges and plaques during his career. He also produced sculptures, such as the “Song of Nature” which sits on the […]

Arno Breker (1900 - 1991)

Sculptor. He was born in Elberfeld, Germany. He became a sculptor after viewing Rodin’s ‘Age of Bronze’ in the Düsseldorf Museum. From 1927 to 1934 he lived in Paris, where he knew Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway, Man Ray, Jean Renoir and Alexander Calder. His sculptures of this period include “Aurora,” “Sitting Man,” “Torso of David,” […]

George Hendrik Breitner (1857 - 1923)

Artist. A painter and photographer, he was a contemporary and friend of Vincent Van Gogh’s. His reknown came from his photographic approach to paintings. Expelled from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hauge due to his unruly behavior, he lived briefly in Paris before situating himself in Amsterdam, where he spent the remainder […]

Margot Cottens (1922 - 1999)

Actress. She was born in Montevideo (Uruguay) and died in Madrid (Spain). After working in Montevideo on stage and television, she moved to Spain in 1960. Here, she developed the rest of her career on screen and stage, often in comedic roles. She appeared in “El Conde de Montecristo” (1953), “Margatira se Llama mi Amor” […]

Andrea Bregno (1970 - 1970)

Early Renaissance sculptor. His family was employed as the architects for the Doge’s Palace in Venice, when he was invited by Pope Pius II to move to Rome.  He began making a name for himself during the reign of Pope Sixtus IV when he was commissioned to work on several notable tombs for the cardinals […]

Victor Brauner (1903 - 1966)

Surrealist painter, associate of Man Ray, born in Rumania. Sudent of magic, which influenced his work. (bio by: David Conway)

Brassai (1899 - 1984)

Hungarian Photojournalist, Portraitist. As a young man, he studied painting and sculpture in the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. Later he became a journalist, moving to Paris in 1918. There he fell in love with the city and with the camera. Brassai is renowned for his photographic chronicles of the night. As a poor […]

Rex Brasher (1869 - 1960)

Painter. Rex was born in Brooklyn, New York, into an old Huguenot family. His grandfather Philip was a member of the  New York State Legislature. Rex became passionate about birds at an early age, due to the influence of his father, an avid naturalist and bird taxidermist. In 1878, at the age of eight he […]

Georges Braque (1882 - 1963)

Painter.  With Pablo Picasso he developed Cubism,  an important movement of 20th Century art.  He and other Cubists created new ways of depicting space and movement by fragmenting objects into basic geometric forms,  showing them at all angles at once,  and merging them with their backgrounds.  Braque was also among the first to incorporate typesetting […]

Katharine Cornell (1893 - 1974)

Actress.  She was born in Berlin.  Her family moved to the U.S. and she was raised in Buffalo New York. She married Guthrie McClintic in 1921 and they lived together until his death in 1961. However, it was well known in theatrical circles that the relationship was platonic as both were involved with others of […]

Enoch Lloyd Branson (1970 - 1925)

Acclaimed Artist. He was one of the first East Tennessee painters to travel outside the state to study art, spending 1873-1875 at the National Academy of Design in New York City. After some studying abroad, he came back to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1876. He raised art standards in East Tennessee through his paintings and by […]

Martin Branner (1888 - 1970)

Cartoonist. He was the creator behind the comic strip, “Winnie Winkle”, which ran in newspapers for 50 years, 1920 to 1970. The cartoon strip was not once but on several occasions considered to be “risque” because Winnie would romp around without her dress. The critics objected to the cartoon strip but the attention from her […]

Joyce Ballantyne Brand (1918 - 2006)

Artist. She was best known for her drawing of the “Coppertone baby” advertisement, in which a little girl is having her bathing suit tugged down by a puppy, exposing her tan line and her bottom. The model for the drawing was her daughter, Cheri Brand Irwin, who was 3 years old. According to Ms. Brand, […]

Gladys Cooper (1888 - 1971)

Actress. She began her career as a chorus-girl line dancer, made her stage début in 1905 at age 17 and became one of the United Kingdoms most renowned performers. DuringWorld War I, she was the British troops’ most popular pin-up girl and appeared on Broadway in the 1930s.  She appeared in many British one-reeler films […]

Constantin Brancusi (1876 - 1957)

Sculptor. Son of a poor peasant and a self-taught man, Brancusi began his career as an apprentice to a cabinet maker. He later worked as an art student and was influenced by Rodin. His style moved beyond naturalist representation to stylized elegant forms.

Joe Brainard (1942 - 1994)

Artist. He was born in Salem (Arkansas) and died in New York. In 1964, he made his first New York solo exhibition, at the Alan Gallery. Subsequently he showed regularly at the Landau-Alan and Fischbach galleries, and took part in many group shows around the country and abroad, including those at the Museum of Modern […]

Georgina Cookson (1918 - 2011)

Actress. Although not much has been chronicled about her early life, she moved to London prior to initiating what was to become a distinguishable career in British films, TV and stage. Cookson marked her motion picture debut with the comedy “I Didn’t Do It” (1945) and appeared in the short-lived Broadway play “Love Goes to […]

Claude Fayette Bragdon (1866 - 1946)

Architect, stage designer, and author.  Bragdon was born in Oberlin, Ohio.  He was raised in Watertown, Oswego, Dansville and Rochester, New York, where his father worked as a newspaper editor.  Bragdon’s principal work was in the Rochester area.  He was well regarded for his ink rendering talent and his study of geometric ornament.  He was […]

Mathew B. Brady (1822 - 1896)

Photographer. He was born in Warren City, New York. He had studied painting before being attracted to the photographic process of Louis Daguerre. He opened a portrait studio in New York during the 1840s, utilizing the improved daguerreotype. Eventually he also set up a studio in Washington D.C., where his cameras caught the images of […]