Litchfield, Conn.—The White Memorial Conservation Center, 80 Whitehall Rd., Litchfield, will host an event, “Remembering Rex,” a tribute to the late artist Rex Brasher, Saturday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m.
Brasher rivaled Audubon as one of this nation’s greatest painters of birds. Traveling throughout the North American continent by boat, train, bus and on foot, raising money from doing odd jobs and betting on horses, Rex Brasher managed to paint every bird species in North America from life.
In 1911, he purchased a 150-acre farm in Dutchess County, NY, right on the border of Connecticut. He bought his art supplies and socialized in Kent, Conn., where he was a founder of the Kent Art Association, so he listed his address as Chickadee Valley, Kent. It was here that he created his magnum opus, Birds and Trees of North America.
He worked in his unheated house, devoid of indoor plumbing and electricity in the first years and walked several miles to Kent when he needed supplies. Aided by his niece, Marie Brasher, and using stencils and an air brush, he hand-colored each print in every book in every set—some 87,400 prints in all.
Today all 874 of his original watercolors rest in drawers at the Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut. The promise of building a museum to house his extraordinary collection has been extinguished. When his last surviving relatives died a few years ago, his home, Chickadee Valley, came into the hands of The Rex Brasher Association.
Its goal is to build a small museum to preserve Brasher’s home and studio. The association also envisions nature trails on his 100-acre property.
Those attending the Feb. 22 event will learn more about the artist and the association’s effort to keep his memory alive. White Memorial’s Gerri Griswold and Matthew Schnepf of the Rex Brasher Association will host the event, which is free. Pre-registration is necessary online.
