Edgar Payne-Top Most Peak (Sold)

Edgar Payne (1883-1947)

Edgar Payne was one of the most important painters during his lifetime and remains so today.   His work is found in many major Western, American and European art collections.  Today he is revered as a painter, a teacher and a leader who established the Laguna Beach Art Association in 1918. Payne was born in Washburn, Missouri on March 1, 1883 and left home at age 14  painting houses, stage sets and signs.  He studied briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Payne earned the lofty title of “God of the Mountains”.   He first began painting mountains shortly after his arrival to California in 1911.  Payne seemed to find mountains everywhere he traveled.  In the year 1922, Payne went to Europe for a two-year stay where the Alps became a favorite subject.  In Europe Payne was struck by Impressionist art.  In 1923 Payne exhibited two paintings at the Paris Salon, “Les Hautes Sierras” and “The Great White Peak”, which won Honorable Mention.  These works established Edgar Payne as an international artist. He is globally famous for his canvases of the high Sierra, his European paintings of harbors and mountains and his Western scenes including Indians riding through desert canyons and landscapes of the Sierra Nevada. Exhibited: California State Fairs, 1917, 1918 (prizes); Sacramento State Fair, 1918 (gold); Sacramento, 1919 (medal);  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1919 (solo), 1926 (gold medal);  Art Institute of Chicago, 1920 (prize); Southwest Museum, 1921 (prize); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual,1921,22,25; Paris Salon, 1923; National Academy of Design, 1929 (prize); Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; California Art Club, 1947. Works Held: Empress Theatre & American Theatre,  Queen Theatre, Houston; Nebraska Art Association,  Herron Art Institute;  Indianapolis Museum;  Laguna Art Museum;  Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley;  National Academy of Design;  National Museum of American Art;  Pasadena Art Museum; Southwest Museum;  Springville Museum of Art;  University of Nebraska Galleries;  Art Institute of Chicago;  Oakland Museum.

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