Born in Washburn, Missouri, Edgar Payne built a reputation as a western landscape painter and muralist.  He was chiefly self-taught, although he did study briefly at the Chicago Art Institute.  Payne was a natural traveler with a love for landscapes.  He moved to California in 1917, where he founded the Laguna Art Gallery.  He also sketched in the High Sierras, the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly.  In the 1920’s he worked in Europe and wrote an instructional book on painting.

(Washburn, Missouri, 1882 – 1947, Hollywood, California)