Byron Browne Paintings

Two Women, 1945, oil on canvas, 30 x 38 in., Caldwell Gallery, New York (for sale at time of post)

Variations on a Greek Urn, 1935-37, oil on canvas, 48.13 x 60 in., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Byron Browne (1907-1961) was a modernist painter and a leader of the American Avant-Garde movement during the 1930's and 40's. He helped pave the way for the acceptance of American abstract art as a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, an organization devoted to promoting abstract art.

Sunbather, 1945, oil on canvas, 24 x 28 in., Caldwell Gallery, New York (for sale at time of post)

Two Boats, 1956, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 in., Blue Heron Fine Art (for sale at time of post)

Reclining Figure, 1949, gouache on paper, 20 x 26 in., Spanierman Modern, New York

Dancing Figures, 1944, gouache on paper, 19.13 x 25 in., Art Resource Group, California

Artist and Model, 1952, tempera and india ink, 20 x 26 in., David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, NY

Blue Lion with Dancer, 1946, oil on canvas, 46 x 36 in., VVFA, New York

Circus Woman, 1946, oil on canvas, São Paulo Museum of Modern Art

Picador, 1956, tempera on paper, 26 x 20 in., Spanierman Modern, New York (for sale at time of post)

Byron Browne, photo: Peter A. Juley & Son

George Byron Browne was born in Yonkers, New York in 1907. He studied at the National Academy of Design in NYC from 1924-1928. Byron began painting in the abstract style in 1927 and eventually destroyed all his previous representational work, including a prize winning still-life which he destroyed in protest to academia's rejection of the American modern movement. In 1940 as a member of the American Abstract Artists he protested outside the Museum of Modern Art in New York for its standing on American abstract art, handing out a broadside that read: How MODERN is the Museum of Modern Art?

Byron promoted abstract art throughout his life and was committed to establishing America as the center of art innovation. He continued to create abstract works and teach painting until his untimely death in 1961. Byron's work is currently featured in the permanent collections of over 80 major art museums.