Art
Crowbush Links
Crowbush Links
Title: Crowbush Links, PEI
Artist: L.W. “Ken” Brammer
Date: Undated (c. 1996)
Image size: 18” x 24” [45.7 x 61.0 cm]
Frame size: 23 1/2” x 29” [59.7 x 73.7 cm]
Description: Oil on board. Signed bottom right. Titled at bottom left. Framed.
Provenance: By descent from the artist.
The Links at Crowbush Cove in P.E.I. opened in 1993. Designed by Tom McBroom, the championship course helped establish the island as a major golf destination. It was named Best New Course in Canada by Golf Digest in 1994. It hosted the 1998 Skins Game with Mike Weir and Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara and John Daly.
The painting is a view of the 11th hole, called Sully’s Run. The vantage point is from the top tee deck. The fairway on the right towards the clubhouse is the 10th hole, named Nor’Wester, while the fairway to the left of the image is the 18th hole, known as Crow's Nest.
L.W. “Ken” Brammer (1920-2007) was born in Worksop, near Sheffield, England. He trained as a house painter and decorator. During WWII, Brammer served in the Royal Air Force, training at RCAF Station Summerside. At the end of the war, Ken returned to P.E.I. where he ran his own painting company for a time, then took a maintenance job at the Summerside air base. Later, he secured a series of provincial government jobs. They included Deputy Minister of Labour, the C.E.O. of the Labour Relations Board, and Chairman of the Arbitration Board. Following his retirement in 1984, Brammer took up recreational painting. Mainly self-taught, Ken worked in oils often painting summertime island landscapes, and, occasionally, prominent P.E.I. buildings, such as Fanningbank. He painted only during the winter months, preferring to spend his summers golfing and fishing. Brammer held his first one-man art exhibition in Charlottetown in 1994. Although considered a primitive or outsider artist, Ken’s work was appreciated by a wide range of collectors, including professional artists. His works can be found - not only in Prince Edward Island collections, but overseas as well. Many of Brammer’s original works were reproduced during his lifetime as P.E.I. Tourism posters, and also on souvenir postcards. Ken died in Uxbridge, Greater London, U.K. at the age of 86.





