Arts panel to consider Brandt paintings donations

The Newport Beach Arts Commission on Thursday will discuss whether to accept the donation of two watercolor paintings by husband and wife artists Rex Brandt and Joan Irving Brandt of Corona del Mar.

Gene Crain and his wife, Diane Dixon Crain, have offered to donate “Northwest Gale Newport Jetty” by Rex Brandt and “Pirate’s Cove From High” by Joan Irving Brandt, a staff report states.

Gene Crain is a local attorney and art aficionado, the report states.

“As a result of his deep interest in California Scene Painting and his close friendships with artists of the California School, Mr. Crain has amassed a remarkable collection focusing on watercolors of the Southern California landscape,” the report states.

The collection includes the works of George James, Phil Dike and Millard Sheets, it adds.

The Crains requested that the paintings be displayed publicly in the Newport Beach Central Library, along with a commemorative plaque with a statement of recognition for the artists’ daughter and son-in-law, Joan Brandt Scarboro and Clark Scarboro, the report states.

Gene Crain also asked that the paintings be photographed and that the photos and letters of acceptance from the city be mailed to the Crains and the Scarboros.

The Board of Library Trustees would have to approve placement of the paintings in the library, and the City Council would have to accept the paintings into the city’s art inventory, the staff report states.

The meeting also will include a discussion of whether to fund repairs to a sculpture in front of the Corona del Mar Library. “Seagulls in Flight,” which pays tribute to a Corona del Mar woman who died in a car crash at age 18 in 1960, is chipped and cracked and has been badly repaired in the past.

The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday in the conference room of the Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave. The public may attend and comment.