Landscape Painter. Born in Nagy Bittse, Hungary on Oct. 1, 1877. Braun immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1881 and settled in New York City. He began drawing at age three and in his early teens was apprenticed to a jeweler. In 1897 he began a five year study period at National Academy of Design followed by one year with William M. Chase.

He was an established portrait and figure painter in New York before moving to San Diego in 1910. After opening a studio on Point Loma, he founded the San Diego Academy of Art in 1912 and served as its director for many years. In 1915 he was a cofounder of the San Diego Art Guild and in 1929 cofounded Contemporary Artists in San Diego. Braun remained in San Diego except for the years 1922-24 when he maintained a studio in Silvermine, CT.

His impressionist paintings of the Southwest desert, Southern California hills and High Sierra have brought him great national acclaim. At the end of his career he specialized in still lifes of flowers and oriental objects d’art. An ardent follower of Theosophy, their teachings of the unity of nature and man is evident in his work.

Member: San Diego Theosophical Society; Salmagundi Club, New York; Laguna Beach Art Association; San Diego Fine Arts Association; California Art Club; Academy of Western Painters; San Diego Contemporary Artists.

Exhibited: Panama Pacific International Exposition, 1915; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1918, 1920 (solos); Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; National Academy of Design and Carnegie Institute annually, 1911-1915; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; Art Institute of Chicago.

Awards: Hallgarten prize, National Academy of Design, 1900; gold medals, Panama- California Exp, San Diego, 1915-1916; and others.

Works Held: Bloomington, Illinois Art Association; Houston Art Museum; San Diego Museum of Art; Public Collections of Riverside and San Bernardino, CA; Phoenix Municipal Collection; Los Angeles Women’s Athletic Club; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Theosopohy Center, Pasadena, CA; Los Angeles Commercial Club; Laguna Beach Museum of Art; Wichita, Kansas Art Association; San Antonio Art Association; The Fleischer Museum, Scottsdale, AZ; The Irvine Museum, Irvine, CA.

(Biography courtesy Hughes, Edan Milton, "Artists in California: 1786-1940," San Francisco: Hughes Publishing Company, 1989.)