Lon Brauer

Figural & Plein Air Artist

Lon Brauer is an American artist known for his work in figure and plein air landscape. He has a BFA from Washington University and an MFA from Fontbonne University – both in St. Louis, Missouri.

Born in 1955 and coming of age in the early seventies, Brauer has roots in the abstract expressionist movement. Influences from Jasper Johns, Willem deKooning, Cy Twombly, and Anselm Kiefer still play through his work. Washington U at the time had a faculty that was heavy on the abstract and conceptual but the experience was firmly rooted in foundational representation. That roundness of study has given Lon flexibility in his art making.

Early interests were in biology and earth sciences that offered subject for his artwork as he developed. Starting college as a biology major he soon switched to art as a primary focus concentrating on both painting and graphic design. “Dad was a pharmacist and I was tapped to do the same but I had always leaned heavy on art throughout my early years and that was where the passion lived.“

Following graduation he landed a part time gig with a photography studio that eventually turned into a 30-year career as one of St. Louis’s top shooters. Through the years he worked with both advertising agencies and design firms in the St. Louis area shooting product and photo illustration for print. Working with large format cameras set up a unique way of seeing imagery through the rectangle of a ground glass. A camera obscura in the true sense. Upside-down images, swings and tilts, lenses of various focal lengths, dramatic lighting, multiple exposure, and darkroom razzle-dazzle. In the days before Photoshop, Lon pioneered unusual ways to see the ordinary through conventional mechanical means. Choreography in front of the lens.

Image making in its simplest form is rooted in pattern. Light and dark shapes that describe. Pattern recognition is what makes it possible to relate. Both photography and painting rely on this. Pareidolia. None of it is real but rather it is an abstraction on a 2-D surface offering a metaphor for reality.

Brauer’s work is firmly rooted in figurative themes with a strong emphasis on drawing. His subject matter ranges from the conceptual to the concrete. In his work he develops a strong foundation composition on which to hang the paint. He feels that painting should be primarily about the paint itself as it describe subject. The subject of a painting is only a part of the story. The way the paint is applied and manipulated speaks to the making of an image and drives the narrative - the emotional narrative.

“I look for things that I’ve never seen before or that I think will live within the broad world of art making with some relevance. It’s the editing process that dictates whether something hits the wall or not. I drive my paintings only to a point. I let the work itself have a hand in the final result. There are certain themes and visuals that excite me. I see the making of a painting as having two aspects – the subject and the mechanics. I’m enamored with how paint moves on the surface. I use brushes of course, but also try my hand with sandpaper, serrated knives, sticks, rags and whatever may give me an interesting mark. The mark making describes not only the subject and form of the painting but it also lends credence to the hand of the painter. My hands are all over my work in some way or another.”

-Lon Brauer

Brauer has shown his work both nationally and overseas. He holds signature membership with Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, Outdoor Painters Society, American Society of Marine Artists, and the Portrait Society of America. He travels extensively with top plein air events each season. When home, he is in studio painting and sculpting. He holds frequent workshops where he teaches drawing and painting through figurative themes.

Lon Brauer Studios is in Granite City, IL where Lon lives with his partner, quillwork artist Djuana Tucker.

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