Who is Ann Marie Brown?

February 13, 2008 4:08 PM

I bought an interesting painting and would like to research the artist, Ann Marie Brown. But how?

I took a few photos that came out blurry but should give you the general idea. This is an original oil painting on well-aged artist's board. It was definitely not painted recently but has no date. The back of the frame has a handwritten title, 'Moonlight', on the top left corner and I'd say the frame is original to the painting. Google found this Ask Art bio which looks plausible, as far as it goes. The people who sold it to me had no idea where it came from. What's the best way to learn more about this artist?

posted by naomi to media & arts (4 comments total)

With a little known artist there isn't much you can do that doesn't apply to researching say, your own great grandmother. Micro-fiche and local library archives, town halls, etc. The volume of information on the artist on the major online lists such as AskArt and Artprice is usually indicative of the level of interest and information circulating on the artist elswhere, in this case not much.
posted by fire&wings at 4:31 PM on February 13

Looks like she lived in Missouri. Why not contact art museums in Missouri? Perhaps they have an in -house library with art librarians who can point you in the right direction?

http://art-collecting.com/nonprofits_mo.htm
posted by greenchile at 4:35 PM on February 13

If you have access to a college library, look on SCIPIO through FirstSearch and that's the largest catalog of art and art sales and is maintained by OCLC, an international bibliography organization.
posted by parmanparman at 8:20 PM on February 13

Thanks, I will try the SCIPIO catalog first!
posted by naomi at 2:51 PM on February 14