For the first time, Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) will exhibit sketchbooks, correspondence, photos, business records and more from The Rex Brandt Archives in celebration of the acclaimed watercolorist’s 100th birthday. Rex Brandt: Awash With Color will open June 18 and run through the end of September 2014 in LCAD’s Dennis and Leslie Power Library at its Main Campus located at 2222 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, CA 92651. The public is invited to view the exhibition Monday through Friday.

The exhibition also showcases art and drawings by Brandt’s wife and fellow artist, Joan Irving, as well as artifacts never before displayed to the public, including Brandt’s brushes, portable easel and an unfinished watercolor painting on board. Materials loaned to the exhibition are from the collections of Shelley and Sam Walker, Mimi Hansen, and Mark and Jan Hilbert of The Hilbert Collection. 

“Rex Brandt: Awash With Color will provide a personal look into the life and career of one of California’s most important artists of the 20th century,” said LCAD President Jonathan Burke. “His lively, cubist watercolors brought the art world’s attention on California. This exhibition is important for artists as well as art and California historians.”

Known for his landscapes and murals, Brandt was involved in designing the first two studios built for LCAD, then known as the Laguna Beach School of Art. With Phil Dike, Brandt also taught a workshop for the College in the early 1960′s and, in 1978, served on its advisory board and its endowment fund campaign.  During his lifetime, Brandt exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1939 and 1941; San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural in 1935; Laguna Beach Art Association from 1936-1952 and across the nation. He authored several important books on watercolor and taught at Riverside College Art, University of Vermont (1940), University of Southern California, Scripps College in Claremont and more. He was a resident of Corona del Mar from 1946 until his death in 2000.

“The Rex Brandt Archives have not only expanded the range of offerings available through LCAD’s Library for inspiration and research, but also demonstrate the dynamic ways in which the artist’s personal records and correspondence can inspire students when they are incorporated into a class discussion,” Burke said. “Brandt’s legacy and contributions to 20th century art will be studied and preserved for generations to come.”

On Friday, September 12, a special program will take place at the college from 4-6pm to celebrate Rex Brandt¹s actual 100th birth date.