The Brown Family Portraits in Cullen
These four portraits hanging in Cullen outside the University Relations suite form a kind of shrine to the Brown family.
It seems that the name of the Brown family is everywhere on campus. But aside from the remembrance of the Brown’s impact on campus through the buildings that the Foundation funded, the endowed professorships, and the Brown Symposium, the Brown family also is prominently commemorated visually on the second floor of the Cullen Building.
Located between the stairs and Vice President of University Relations Suite, portraits of Margaret Root Brown, Alice Pratt Brown, Herman Brown, and George R. Brown are hanging in honor of the legacy of these Southwestern donors.
The four portraits were done by Robert C. Joy, a Houston portraitist who painted over 350 portraits during his 40 year career. Joy’s subjects included Texas political, business, and social leaders such as President LBJ who was a friend of the Brown family. The portraitist also worked with George R. Brown when he photographed the Rice University Board of Trustees around 1962. The location of the original portraits of the Brown family is unknown.
