Arabesque
Year 2001
Artist Eric Bransby (1916–2020, American)
Media bronze
Dimensions 39 1/4 x 29 1/8 x 3 3/4 inches
Eric Bransby was born in Auburn, New York on October 25, 1916 and moved to Iowa with his family in 1928. Although his parents had other plans for him, Bransby was determined to go to art school. In 1938, Bransby enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied until 1942 (only until 1942 due to WWII) under famous regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton. Bransby moved to Colorado Springs in 1945 and studied under Boardman Robinson and Jean Charlot at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (CSFAC), now part of Colorado College. He received his BA in 1947 and MA in 1949, both from Colorado College, and his MFA in the 1950s from Yale University where he studied architecture and mural painting with Carol Meeks, Vincent Scully and Josef Albers. Bransby was an instructor at Yale University, University of Illinois (Urbana), Brigham Young University, Western Illinois University and University of Missouri (Kansas City). In 1985, he reconstructed a mural at the CSFAC by his former teacher Boardman Robinson. Bransby received many accolades during his career, including the Pikes Peak Art’s Council Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Apart from his roughly 35 murals at prominent buildings, Bransby was also an accomplished painter, drawer and lithographer. This bronze sculpture captures the figural style he’s well-known for. He passed away at age 103 on September 23, 2020.
ON VIEW in west entry foyer
Signature Inscribed "Bransby 2001" lower right
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art; Gift of the Artist
Accession Number 2016.93.001
