Do you have a painting signed G.T. Brown or initialed G.T.B.?
More than a century ago, in the 1880s, Grafton Tyler Brown was acclaimed as the first professional artist in B.C. and is famous as the first black artist in the Pacific Northwest.
A University of Victoria historian is now hoping people will take a closer look at what is hanging in their living rooms or propped up at a garage sale.
Many of Brown’s American pieces are well known to dealers and are showcased in major collections.
But his British Columbia images are far more rare and most remain unaccounted for.
As part of Black History Month, UVic history professor Dr. John Lutz, co-founder of the UVic-based Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History website, is asking: “Where are the B.C. paintings now?”
Brown’s paintings once sold for $25 to $350 but recently his best works have fetched close to $75,000.
He painted in two main genres — landscape painting and “vanity” images (commissioned drawings of people’s houses, farms and businesses).
Anyone who suspects they’ve got a Brown original is asked to contact jlutz@uvic.ca to learn more. Visit GraftonTBrown.ca for more on the artist, his life’s work and the “missing” paintings.
