Edgar Alwin Payne
Encyclopedia
Edgar Alwin Payne was an American
Western
landscape
painter
and muralist.
, Barry County, Missouri
, in the heart of the Ozarks. Washburn is in southwest Missouri, only nine miles from the Arkansas
border. But that wouldn’t stop this turn-of-the-century Missouri teenager from seeing the world. Before Edgar was done he would crisscross the United States
, travel to Mexico
, Canada
, and Europe
, and even spend the summer in the Alps
. But, like John Muir
before him, and Ansel Adams
after, it was the American West that most appealed to his heart.
Leaving home at age 19, he would paint houses, signs, portraits, murals, and local theatre stage sets, to pay his way. First traveling through the Ozarks, then around the Southeast and Midwest of the U.S., and then onto Mexico, he would finally wind up in Chicago
, and enroll to study portrait art at the Art Institute of Chicago
. He did not stay long at the institute, just two weeks, finding it too structured, he preferring instead to be self-taught, relying on practice and his own sense of direction.
Struggling at first, he would soon exhibit at the Palette and Chisel Club, landscape works that had been painted on a small easel. During this period he would also obtain the occasional mural work to supplement his income.
He would make his way to California
for the first time at the age of 26, in 1909. He would spend several months painting at Laguna Beach, then head on to San Francisco. In San Francisco he would meet other artist, among them was commercial artist, Elsie Palmer (1884–1971), whom he would marry three years later, back in Chicago. He would return to California for a second time, two years later, in 1911. When he returned to Illinois that fall, he found that Elsie had taken a job as commercial artist in Chicago. This cemented their already growing interest in each other. On the morning of their wedding day about a year later, 9 November 1912, Edgar noticing that the light was “perfect", had Elsie postpone the ceremony until the afternoon. Luckily the artist in her gave her some understanding.
As a couple they become well known in Chicago’s art circle, she would help him with his mural work, and soon he had an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Arguably their greatest collaborative effort happened in 1914 with the arrival of their daughter, Evelyn.
He earned his first major commission in 1917. In a bid to attract tourist, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad asked him to paint the Southwest
, along the railroads' trek from Albuquerque to California. This commission would solidify, not only his reputation as an artist, but it would also forever link him to Western America. Although he would paint in Europe, he is most remembered for his work from the Four Corners area, on the Navajo Nation
Reservation
, to that of Yosemite, and the California coast. That year He and Elsie would spend four months painting, exploring, and taking in Canyon de Chelly
. This area, from Taos, New Mexico
to the Grand Canyon
, would become one of Payne's two main inspirations for the next twenty years.
The Santa Fe Railroad commissions were the turn of the century brainchild of William H. Simpson, chief of the railway's advertising department. Starting in 1892, with Thomas Moran
, Simpson would exchange travel on the train, along with lodging at railroad hotels and meals at railroad restaurants, and even sometimes cash, for paintings, photographs, pottery, and jewelry. This endeavor would last for decades, make the Santa Fe one of the largest collectors of southwestern fine art, and most importantly, give America a valuable lasting treasure.
When the Santa Fe commission expired the couple returned to San Francisco. Edgar received a commission from the Congress Hotel in Chicago for a mural of 11,000 square yards of muslin
. The mural would cover several floors of the hallways of the hotel. He would need to rent a warehouse in Glendale, California
, and hire other artist to help him, including Elsie, to complete the work.
In 1918, Edgar and Elsie would make their home, with studio in Laguna Beach. He would organize a local art association, the Laguna Beach Art Association, and become its first president. They would spend the next four years painting their way throughout the southwest, and to places like Canadian Rockies
in British Columbia
, and Alberta
, Canada
, and then exhibiting in the Los Angeles
area. Sometimes their trips would be hiking into the backcountry, looking for undisturbed places of raw, and rare beauty, to paint, sometimes for weeks. After finding success during this period, the trio took a two-year “painting tour” of Europe, 1922-1924. Painting in Brittany
, Paris
, Provence
, Switzerland
, and Venice
. Of course his favorite place in Europe was the Alps
, painting The Great White Peak of Mont Blanc
, which in the spring of 1923, the Paris Salon
gave "an honorable mention".
Upon returning the U.S. in the fall of 1924, they first stayed in Chicago, then back to Laguna Beach, and then on to New York City
in 1926. Always on the go, they would move and paint in Arizona, California, the California Sierras, Connecticut, New Mexico, New York, and Utah. They would spend the summers crossing the country, painting as they went. They returned to Europe to paint the harbors of Brittany, and Chioggia
, in 1928. The following summer they painted Lake Louise
, Alberta.
, commissions didn’t come as easily, so the Paynes returned to Southern California
on a more permanent basis, purchasing a new Los Angeles, studio-home, in 1932. During this time, Evelyn would marry, and Edgar and Elsie would become separated that same year. Edgar moved to Hollywood, to a small studio-home on Seward Street. However, he would spend a great deal of his time in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains, painting his favorite subject.
His lifelong obsession with the Sierras would lead him to produce a documentary film, “Sierra Journey”. In 1941 he wrote "Composition of Outdoor Painting", a comprehensive book on composition and composition forms. The book also explains landscape painting techniques, color, repetition, rhythm, and value. The sixth edition printing of the work was done in 1995 .
After a 14-year separation, Elsie returned to help Edgar in 1946, upon learning that he had cancer. She stayed with him until he died, 8 April 1947.
There is a bronze relief sculptor of Edgar at the Laguna Beach Art Museum, done by Elsie in 1952. She championed his work until her own health, and degradation of eyesight, caused her to stop in 1959. She moved in with Evelyn and her husband, in 1969, in Minneapolis. Elsie died peacefully 17 June 1971.
You can find works of Payne's that are of Italian harbors, the Alps, landscapes of Laguna, but Edgar Alwin Payne is most remembered for his work of American Indians of the Four Corners area, and, of course, the paintings of his beloved Sierras. In the Sierras, high up in Humphrey's Basin, you will find the lake named for him, Payne Lake.
His work was an influence on Bill Wray
and other painters.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and muralist.
Early life
Payne was born in WashburnWashburn, Missouri
Washburn is a city in Washburn Township, Barry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 448 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Washburn is located at ....
, Barry County, Missouri
Barry County, Missouri
Barry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 35,597. Its county seat is Cassville. The county was organized in 1835 and named after William Taylor Barry from Kentucky, a United States Postmaster General....
, in the heart of the Ozarks. Washburn is in southwest Missouri, only nine miles from the Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
border. But that wouldn’t stop this turn-of-the-century Missouri teenager from seeing the world. Before Edgar was done he would crisscross the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, travel to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and even spend the summer in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. But, like John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
before him, and Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
after, it was the American West that most appealed to his heart.
Leaving home at age 19, he would paint houses, signs, portraits, murals, and local theatre stage sets, to pay his way. First traveling through the Ozarks, then around the Southeast and Midwest of the U.S., and then onto Mexico, he would finally wind up in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and enroll to study portrait art at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. He did not stay long at the institute, just two weeks, finding it too structured, he preferring instead to be self-taught, relying on practice and his own sense of direction.
Struggling at first, he would soon exhibit at the Palette and Chisel Club, landscape works that had been painted on a small easel. During this period he would also obtain the occasional mural work to supplement his income.
He would make his way to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for the first time at the age of 26, in 1909. He would spend several months painting at Laguna Beach, then head on to San Francisco. In San Francisco he would meet other artist, among them was commercial artist, Elsie Palmer (1884–1971), whom he would marry three years later, back in Chicago. He would return to California for a second time, two years later, in 1911. When he returned to Illinois that fall, he found that Elsie had taken a job as commercial artist in Chicago. This cemented their already growing interest in each other. On the morning of their wedding day about a year later, 9 November 1912, Edgar noticing that the light was “perfect", had Elsie postpone the ceremony until the afternoon. Luckily the artist in her gave her some understanding.
As a couple they become well known in Chicago’s art circle, she would help him with his mural work, and soon he had an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Arguably their greatest collaborative effort happened in 1914 with the arrival of their daughter, Evelyn.
Major breakthroughs
The following spring they took Evelyn to see her maternal grandparents in San Francisco. They would also attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The following year Edgar would make his first trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This trip would again be a big moment in his life, and he would return again and again to paint the beauty of the unspoiled Sierra, these paintings would be one of his hallmarks.He earned his first major commission in 1917. In a bid to attract tourist, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad asked him to paint the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
, along the railroads' trek from Albuquerque to California. This commission would solidify, not only his reputation as an artist, but it would also forever link him to Western America. Although he would paint in Europe, he is most remembered for his work from the Four Corners area, on the Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
Reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
, to that of Yosemite, and the California coast. That year He and Elsie would spend four months painting, exploring, and taking in Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service. It is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation...
. This area, from Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
to the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, would become one of Payne's two main inspirations for the next twenty years.
The Santa Fe Railroad commissions were the turn of the century brainchild of William H. Simpson, chief of the railway's advertising department. Starting in 1892, with Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
, Simpson would exchange travel on the train, along with lodging at railroad hotels and meals at railroad restaurants, and even sometimes cash, for paintings, photographs, pottery, and jewelry. This endeavor would last for decades, make the Santa Fe one of the largest collectors of southwestern fine art, and most importantly, give America a valuable lasting treasure.
When the Santa Fe commission expired the couple returned to San Francisco. Edgar received a commission from the Congress Hotel in Chicago for a mural of 11,000 square yards of muslin
Muslin
Muslin |sewing patterns]], such as for clothing, curtains, or upholstery. Because air moves easily through muslin, muslin clothing is suitable for hot, dry climates.- Etymology and history :...
. The mural would cover several floors of the hallways of the hotel. He would need to rent a warehouse in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, and hire other artist to help him, including Elsie, to complete the work.
In 1918, Edgar and Elsie would make their home, with studio in Laguna Beach. He would organize a local art association, the Laguna Beach Art Association, and become its first president. They would spend the next four years painting their way throughout the southwest, and to places like Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and then exhibiting in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area. Sometimes their trips would be hiking into the backcountry, looking for undisturbed places of raw, and rare beauty, to paint, sometimes for weeks. After finding success during this period, the trio took a two-year “painting tour” of Europe, 1922-1924. Painting in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. Of course his favorite place in Europe was the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, painting The Great White Peak of Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
, which in the spring of 1923, the Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
gave "an honorable mention".
Upon returning the U.S. in the fall of 1924, they first stayed in Chicago, then back to Laguna Beach, and then on to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1926. Always on the go, they would move and paint in Arizona, California, the California Sierras, Connecticut, New Mexico, New York, and Utah. They would spend the summers crossing the country, painting as they went. They returned to Europe to paint the harbors of Brittany, and Chioggia
Chioggia
Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the province of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy.-Geography:...
, in 1928. The following summer they painted Lake Louise
Lake Louise, Alberta
Lake Louise is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Improvement District No. 9 Banff . It is named for the nearby Lake Louise, which in turn was named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta , the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, and the wife of John Campbell, the 9th Duke of Argyll, who was the...
, Alberta.
Later life
After the financial collapse of 1929, and the subsequent Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, commissions didn’t come as easily, so the Paynes returned to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
on a more permanent basis, purchasing a new Los Angeles, studio-home, in 1932. During this time, Evelyn would marry, and Edgar and Elsie would become separated that same year. Edgar moved to Hollywood, to a small studio-home on Seward Street. However, he would spend a great deal of his time in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains, painting his favorite subject.
His lifelong obsession with the Sierras would lead him to produce a documentary film, “Sierra Journey”. In 1941 he wrote "Composition of Outdoor Painting", a comprehensive book on composition and composition forms. The book also explains landscape painting techniques, color, repetition, rhythm, and value. The sixth edition printing of the work was done in 1995 .
After a 14-year separation, Elsie returned to help Edgar in 1946, upon learning that he had cancer. She stayed with him until he died, 8 April 1947.
There is a bronze relief sculptor of Edgar at the Laguna Beach Art Museum, done by Elsie in 1952. She championed his work until her own health, and degradation of eyesight, caused her to stop in 1959. She moved in with Evelyn and her husband, in 1969, in Minneapolis. Elsie died peacefully 17 June 1971.
You can find works of Payne's that are of Italian harbors, the Alps, landscapes of Laguna, but Edgar Alwin Payne is most remembered for his work of American Indians of the Four Corners area, and, of course, the paintings of his beloved Sierras. In the Sierras, high up in Humphrey's Basin, you will find the lake named for him, Payne Lake.
His work was an influence on Bill Wray
Bill Wray
William York Wray is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show...
and other painters.
Galleries and collections with Payne's works
- Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah
- Edgar Payne Gallery of Art - Laguna Beach, California
- Chicago Art Museum
- University of Nebraska Galleries
- Fleischer Museum (Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
) - Indianapolis Museum of Art
- Laguna Art Museum, California
- Edgar Payne Gallery, California
- National Academy of Design Collection
- National Collection of Fine Arts, Senate Building (Washington D.C.)
- Pasadena Art Institute
- Pasadena Museum of California Art
- Southwest Museum of Los Angeles
- Springville Museum of ArtSpringville Museum of ArtThe Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah is the oldest museum in Utah for the visual fine arts. Completed in 1937, this building was designed in the style of the Spanish Colonial Revival style by Claud S. Ashworth. It was dedicated by LDS Apostle David O...
(Springville, UtahSpringville, UtahSpringville is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 20,424 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 28,520. Just minutes south of Provo, Springville is a bedroom community for...
) - The Redfern Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
- Edgar Payne Artwork, Laguna Beach, California
- The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
- The Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
His memberships
- Allied Art Association
- American Artists Professional League
- California Art ClubCalifornia Art ClubThe California Art Club , founded in 1909, is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. It celebrated its centennial in the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved from the Painters Club of Los Angeles...
(President, 1926) - Carmel Art Association
- Chicago Society of Artists
- International Society Art League
- Laguna Beach Art Association
- Palette and Chisel Club
- Salmagundi Club (NYC)
- Ten Painters of Los Angeles
Sources
- Stern, Jean. Edgar "Artists in Santa Catalina Island Before 1945; Impressionism in Southern California". Director of The Irvine Museum in Irvine, California. (c/o Traditional Fine Arts Organization)
- Hughes, Edan Milton. Artists in California, 1786-1940. San Francisco, California: Hughes Publishing Company. 1989. ISBN 0961611219
External links
- Paintings from the Permanent Collection of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts
- Edgar Alwin Payne - at Artcyclopedia
- Edgar Alwin Payne biography at California Art Club
- “Fifth Lake” ca. 1928 - at Smithsonian American Art MuseumSmithsonian American Art MuseumThe Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
- Edgar Payne - on AskART.com
