Charles Bragg (American, 1931)

Whose world is more absurd, Charles Bragg’s or ours?  This is the question inevitably raised by the satirical visions so skillfully painted, engraved, sculpted and drawn by this artist from the West Coast.  Charles Bragg’s pictorial lampoons and sardonic pageants - directed at such power groups as politicians, the military, the church, and the professions - somehow seem the essence of rationality.  The panorama of human frailties - greed, vanity, and hypocrisy, among others - is personified in droll, gnome-like characters, painted in rich vibrant colors or etched with a love of the turn of a line.  Bragg has often been compared to Bosch, Goya, and Daumier.  Like them, he is a master of the traditional graphic skills, which he uses to prick the public conscience or to simply amuse.  His sculptures of judges, sportsmen, misers, and voluptuaries, of God and Don Quixote, demonstrate the same caractural gift in a blend of satire, irony, and art.

Charles Bragg was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1931. As a young boy, he was constantly on the road with his parents, who were performers in the waning days of vaudeville.  As a teenager he grew up in the Bronx and went to New York’s High School of Music and Art in Harlem.  He was married at 18 and had two children by the time he was 21.  He worked as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman, a cab driver, a truck driver, a factory worker and a stand-up comedian. He moved to California and began his artistic career by painting portraits for wealthy families and giving art lessons to society matrons. Bragg went from living out of an Airstream trailer on the road as a child to living in a mansion in Bel Air and driving a Rolls Royce as an adult.  All of these experiences and more have given him the unique perspective to create “The Absurd World of Charles Bragg.”

Bragg  has held solo exhibitions from San Francisco to Vienna, from New Orleans to Munich, from Honolulu to Philadelphia.  He has been commissioned by Playboy magazine, won many awards for artistic merit, and been the subject of a PBS documentary, “Charles Bragg - One of A Kind.” Bragg has been equated with such great satirists as Rowlandson, Cruikshank, Daumier, Hogarth and Nast. Charles Bragg draws his inspiration from a very diverse sampling of the human condition that he’s been lucky enough to have experienced. As one of the master observers of contemporary times, he and his little people have etched their way into the American heart.  His is a unique perspective on the human comedy - it is the reassuring viewpoint of the eager participant. He is the constant observer, but never the innocent bystander.

American Fine Art Editions, Inc. is pleased to be the representative for the works of this satirical master, from his entertaining sculptures of Doctors, Judges, and Lawyers to his original paintings and limited edition works including his artist series capturing the original masters such as Rembrandt, Monet and Lautrec with their artworks.  In addition the Charles Bragg the gallery features the works of many other internationally acclaimed 20^th century and old masters including: Rembrandt, Picasso, Miro, Warhol, Calder, Dali, Vasarely, and more.  Contact one of their International Art Consultants to find out more about your favorites artists or artworks, (800)466-82276, or (480)990-1200.