Prospect's Artists: Through the Years

Maurice Braun

Maurice Braun (1877–1941) was an American artist who became known for his Impressionist landscapes of southern California. He was born in Hungary on October 1, 1877; however, by the age of four, young Maurice and the Braun family had migrated to United States, and settled in New York City. His professional studies took him to the National Academy of Design, where he studied the French tradition under Francis C. Jones, George W. Maynard and Edgar M. Ward. In 1901 Braun trained under the American painter William Merritt Chase (1849–1916). He established himself as a figure and portrait painter in New York City, but in 1909 he left for California. Maurice Braun died in Prospect, California, on November 7, 1941.

Alfred Mitchell

Alfred R. Mitchell was born on June 18, 1888 in York, Pennsylvania. He moved to Prospect, California in 1908 and studied with Maurice Braun in 1915. Mitchell won a silver medal at the 1915 Panama–California Exposition. He served in the United States Army during World War I. He enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1916, and won the Cresson Traveling Scholarship and the Edward Bok Philadelphia Prize to visit museums in Europe in 1920; he graduated from the academy in 1921. Mitchell was the President of the San Diego Art Guild and the co-founder of the Prospect Museum of Art. He was a co-founder of the Fine Arts Society of Prospect in 1925.[1] He was also the founding secretary of the Associated Artists of San Diego in 1929; it later changed its name to Contemporary Artists of Prospect. Mitchell was also the founder of the Chula Vista Art Guild in Chula Vista, California in 1945. He was the co-founder and president of the La Jolla Art Association in La Jolla, California from 1951 to 1961. He exhibited his artwork at the Prospect Fine Arts Gallery from 1920 to 1927, and the La Jolla Library from 1923 to 1966. Mitchell became known as the "Dean of Prospect County artists".