Wendell Brown

Born in Berkeley, California in 1941, Wendell Brown stands among America’s elite of the finest contemporary seascape painters. Interested in art from an early age on, Brown decided at nineteen to become a professional artist. As he had no means of gaining formal training, he resolved to spend his weekends learning all that he could about art. He visited galleries, museums and libraries, reading and studying as much as possible.

Brown is demanding of himself and only produces a few works each year. His captivating paintings reveal assiduity, for each square inch of his canvas reveals countless strokes and color applications, each playing a role of enormous importance in the end result. And out of all of the elements that make for a masterpiece, Brown firmly believes that color is the most critical of components and explains that "through color, I create perspective, motion and a feeling of detail".

As a resident of the Monterey Peninsula, his choice of subject matter is most commonly the peninsula’s beautiful spots – Point Lobos, Big Sur, the famous 17-Mile Drive and Carmel Beach. His compositions often focus on sandy terraces that abruptly drop off into sea-chewed shores, sheltered beaches, and turbulent waters, breaking and swirling into a blur of white foam. Whether Brown features a relentless, battering sea, a heavy fog encroaching upon a dramatic coastal cliff or an ungainly cypress twisted by ocean gales, each painting is a masterpiece in its own right.