Rico Lebrun in Mexico

http://jackrutbergfinearts.com

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles - as a participating gallery in the region-wide Getty Foundation endeavor, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA - will present an exhibition entitled “Rico Lebrun in Mexico”. The exhibition will open on January 20, with a preview reception from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. at the Rutberg gallery located at 357 North La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. This important exhibition will open in tandem with a separate exhibition of works by the major 20th century Latin American sculptor, Francisco Zúñiga. (See a separate press release for the Zúñiga exhibition.)

This exhibition, Rico Lebrun in Mexico, focuses attention on the period when Lebrun moved to San Miguel de Allende in 1952 to teach art at the Instituto Allende. There a new generation of Mexican artists was introduced to and inspired by Rico Lebrun, who distinguished himself not only as a painter and compelling draftsman, but also as a formidable muralist. His most widely known monumental scale works are “Crucifixion”, completed and exhibited at LACMA in 1950, now in the permanent collection at Syracuse University, NY, and “Genesis”, a mural completed in 1960 at Pomona College.

In Mexico, Lebrun found a landscape and a people that resonated with the color, drama and passions he had grown up with in his native Naples. Capturing everyday life and scenes in the town and marketplace, Lebrun painted vivid tableaus combining strong, dynamic lines, semi-abstract figuration and dense compositions, often incorporating collaged elements. Included in the exhibition are selected drawings which exemplify Lebrun’s expressive style and rarely seen monumental scale paintings and collages, including “Mexican Street in the Rain”, shown in LACMA’s 1967 touring Lebrun retrospective exhibition. 

“Rico Lebrun in Mexico” offers a rare opportunity to view the works of one of the major American artists based in Los Angeles, and illustrates how Los Angeles’ modern art history converges with the modern art history of Mexico. That history is further underscored by the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts’ prior exhibitions presented in concert with PST: LA/LA, “Artists of Mexico” and “Hans Burkhardt in Mexico”.

• Contact:
• Jack Rutberg
• jrutberg@jackrutbergfinearts.com
• 323-938-5222