Katherine Marie Louise Brasher

Katherine Marie Louise Brasher (known by most as Marie) was Rex Brasher’s niece, the daughter of his significantly older half-brother Archibald. Marie was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1876. Marie and Rex, separated by only seven years, were friends during their childhood, and Marie became one of Rex’s earliest supporters in the years he was struggling to find the time and money to fully execute his vision of painting all the birds in North America. When Rex returned from his travels around the country and was beginning the process of painting the birds from his sketches, Marie was steadfast in her belief in him.

Marie was a trained court stenographer and later became the confidential secretary to the mayor of New York City. Having a regular income, she became a financial support to Rex by sharing a home with him and her uncle Philip in Brooklyn in the 1910s. By 1912, Marie and Rex were convinced that they needed to find a place for Rex to work on the paintings in peace. They found that place in an advertisement for abandoned property—an old farmhouse in Dutchess County, New York, several miles from the town of Kent, Connecticut. Marie purchased the property and over the next few years Rex made the farmhouse habitable and began a rigorous schedule of painting during all the hours of available daylight.

Marie was a frequent visitor, but eventually moved to the property they called Chickadee Valley.  In addition to her financial and emotional support, Marie, her brother Philip, and Rex created Rex Brasher Associates in order to produce and market Birds and Trees of North America. Marie researched the scientific identifications for each plate and typed all of them. Her skills were essential to the creation of the volumes and to the advertising campaign Rex Brasher Associates created to make sure Rex’s books were acquired by collectors, institutions of higher learning, and museums across the country.

We are fortunate to have in our collection a guestbook that Marie began on September 20, 1925.  Though nominally the book was a means of recording the names of visitors to Chickadee Valley, this document is a treasure trove of information about Rex’s painting, the production of Birds and Trees of North America, and the nexus of Rex and Marie’s social contacts with neighbors and visitors from afar.  Among the many nuggets of information in the guestbook is this from January 2, 1927:  “Yesterday - the 1st - Rex started a Whistling Swan picture. Probably will call it Amber and Gold. The background is a sunset which enthralled us here last summer.” Unfortunately, Marie’s health deteriorated during the years she maintained the book, so the last entry is from December 10, 1932:

At the English Book Shop E. 55th Exhibition of Rex Brasher Birds of North America — Mr. Johnson (of J & J Surgical supplies) said he had been over Europe looking for a picture to put over his mantel and had to come here to find it!

After dedicating much of her life to supporting Rex’s massive endeavors, Marie died in June 1933.  As she requested, Rex buried her ashes on the hillside above the house that had been their haven and where her faith in Rex and her unwavering support allowed Rex to accomplish the impossible.