Civil War-themed painting gifted to Kennesaw Mountain was made by a 'hidden' artist. Now Doug Brooks' creations are reaching the world

Douglas L. Brooks created this in the final year of his life, click to enlarge (KMNB)

After 10 years living on a wooded lake cove in Alabama, artist Douglas Lee Brooks returned home to Georgia and his childhood memories.

The first work the painter produced back in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta, was a scene from the Civil War -- soldiers and horsemen clashing in a sea of color. The war was a subject dear to Brooks, who grew up in a neighborhood near Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

“Behind our home there was no development and the back face of Kennesaw Mountain,” says his sister Dolly Brooks. “You can imagine my brothers crossed the creek and through the woods. The back of Kennesaw Mountain was their playground.”

The powerful painting – full of light and vibrancy and exuding a childlike freedom – was donated in March to the park, 15 months after Brooks, 68, died of esophageal cancer.

The untitled work is among the last of about 1,500 paintings that Doug Brooks produced. His sister calls him a “hidden” artist, a private and contemplative person who never sold any of his creations, rather giving them to family and friends.

Painting at Rhode Island preschool (Courtesy of Douglas L. Brooks Collection)

Dolly Brooks, of Providence, R.I., lived near her brother in Marietta during the final year of his life. “When he knew he was dying, and asked me if I would accept his collection, he said, ‘You will know what to do.” 

As caretaker of 1,200 paintings, Dolly is now thoughtfully gifting them to places that reflect the causes her older brother supported, among them arts education, scholarships and organizations fighting food insecurity. Most of the works depict Southern life and culture – from street preachers and gamblers to farmers and people playing music and dancing.

Dolly approached Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in January about donating the large acrylic and canvas painting.

“I knew there was only one place I wanted the painting to be,” Dolly told the Picket. “You have to stand before it. To see it on your screen is nothing like standing before it.”

The artist made hundreds of Southern scenes (Courtesy of the Douglas L. Brooks Collection)

'Like dancing on the canvas'

The Brooks family has a real connection to the June 1864 Kennesaw battlefield. Doug and Dolly’s grandfather, Forrest, was born at Kolb Farm, scene of intense fighting. The National Park Service acquired the property years ago.

The Marietta home where the siblings grew up, St. John’s Court, blends into the woods.

Doug had a deep reverence for nature – the seasons, colors and animals – but he also had an appreciation for history, and he would often visit the Civil War park, taking in the movie and exhibits.

So it is no surprise that the artist recreated his childhood memories in the painting. Kennesaw acknowledged the gift in a Facebook post, saying the park was “always a treasured space to him.”

Forrest Clinton Brooks, born at Kolb's Farm (Courtesy of Dolly Brooks)

Park ranger Amanda Corman told the Picket the painting hangs in the visitor center vestibule.

When asked to describe the scene, Corman replied, “I cannot say that the painting depicts a specific portion of the battle; however, it is to reflect on the fighting that did take place at this location.” 

Doug moved to larger canvases later in life. While continuing use of oils on canvas, the painter began to do more with acrylics.

“I really like the large format. It’s like dancing on the canvas,” says Dolly, 67, of the painting now at the park. “He loved to play with the color and brush strokes (that) he could do.”

“It probably took him a week. “When it had the magic, he would take it off the easel.”

“The Confederate flag is muted,” she said. ““I love the horses that are coming in from the canvas on both sides. The more you look at it, the more you see.”

Tri-set depicting Civil War combat, click to enlarge (Courtesy of Douglas L. Brooks Collection)

Her brother was only able to make four paintings after returning to Georgia. “Doug often would paint through the night, if he was so inspired.”

The artist produced 15 or fewer paintings with a Civil War theme over his lifetime.

Dolly said she is touch with Corman about possibly gifting a smaller tri-set he made in the late 1980s for the park’s educational classroom.

He believed in coloring outside the lines

As collection caretaker, Dolly says her mission and charge is to bring her brother’s work to the public, and the Kennesaw Mountain gift is among the first on exhibit.

The retired teacher recently gifted two early works to the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia. (Self-portrait by Doug at left is courtesy of the Douglas L. Brooks Collection. He was about 34 at the time.)

A larger canvas is now hanging at Imagine Preschool at the Providence Center in Rhode Island. A sign near the colorful painting of a fish – made by her brother in Alabama -- says, “May children always be encouraged to color outside the lines.” (Painting is second in this post)

Doug was not a professional artist, though he took lessons as a child from local artist Forrest Jacobs. He attended the University of Georgia from 1971-1972 and was in the art program led by Lamar Dodd. The student didn’t like the environment or academics, so he left. Later, after a stint in the U.S. Navy, he worked in the family business in Cobb County.

But the bachelor’s real passion was art, and Doug also produced drawings, pottery, plates and writings over 50 years. Dolly says viewers can appreciate a Southern and regional touch in the paintings, from sharecropper shacks to fishermen and night scenes. Many are joyful and playful, she says.

Dolly describes Doug as her best friend, a deeply spiritual man who believed strongly in storytelling. About 150 of the paintings are self-portraits, the first when Doug was 29 and the last from 2020. “I believe he knew he was not well.”

A Southern scene made by the artist (Courtesy of the Douglas L. Brooks collection)

Doug did not want anyone to profit from his work and his sister is not selling it at this time. Instead, Dolly says she is making gifts of his art that will be, as her brother said, flowers for walls.

“I look at his work and I just recognize the beauty of him," Dolly says. “His art will be seen by the world as he requested.”