Rex Brasher (1869–1960) is one of America's great bird artists. His vast body of work — including nearly a thousand original paintings and lyrical descriptions of every bird species in North America — has remained largely unknown to the public for the past century. Our mission is to share the life of this enigmatic and prolific painter and allow his work to inspire a new generation of bird enthusiasts. Please join us as we undertake the monumental task of bringing Rex Brasher's work back into the light.

Over the last few months, we had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with Field Notes, founded by Jim Coudal and Aaron Draplin. The talented team at Field Notes has carefully chosen and reproduced six of Rex Brasher's paintings on two 3-Packs of Field Notes Ruled Memo Books. Covers are a lovely felt-textured 100#C Mohawk Via “Pure White,” bound by three stainless steel staples. The bodies are 60#T Domtar Lynx Opaque Ultra, ruled with pale gray lines.

Rex Brasher lived his life in the field. What better way to commemorate his life and legacy. Buy this special edition of Field Notes today and keep Rex's spirit alive, in the field.

Birds and Trees of North America is Rex Brasher's seminal work, comprised of 874 watercolor paintings bound in an encyclopedic set. Between 1929 and 1932, Rex Brasher created 100 twelve-volume sets—1,200 individual books—and sent them to patrons across North America. Together, the volumes contain every bird Rex painted: grosbeaks, finches, redpolls, goldfinches, longspurs, juncos, sparrows, and many more.

Thanks to Matthew Schnepf and the internship program, all 1,200 pages across all 12 volumes have been meticulously photographed, color-corrected, cataloged, and published here on the website. For the first time ever, the complete set is available for anyone, anywhere in the world, to peruse and enjoy. None of this would have been possible without your generous donations. Thank you for helping us bring every volume online. Now the real work begins.

In Spring 2023, the Rex Brasher Association hosted Pulitzer Prize-winning art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott and Emmy award-winning visual journalist Zoeann Murphy of The Washington Post, who wrote and filmed an insightful piece on the life and legacy of Rex Brasher. Yes, it's true, Rex Brasher painted more birds than Audubon — and his family never owned slaves.

Without touching, disturbing, or killing, Rex Brasher quietly created an encyclopedic reference set of every bird species in North America, as he observed them in their natural habitat at the turn of the century.  You can watch the video by Zoeann Murphy without a subscription. You'll need a subscription to read the article by Philip Kennicott.