Dayton Reginald Eugene Brown was born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Illinois, Art Center School (Los Angeles) and San Diego State College. He lived in California during the 1920s and 1930s, where he specialized in portraits of the stars. This untitled nude could be one of them, who knows? Brown exhibited in both the United States and England and won numerous prizes for his sculpture, painting and etching. He was a member of the Chicago Society of Etchers, Printmakers of California and the California Art Society.