Edgar Alwin Payne (1 March 1883-8 April 1947); American Western landscape painter and muralist. Married to Elsie Palmer Payne. Born near Cassville, Barry County, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks.... Despite his relative isolation this turn-of-the-century Missouri teenager toured 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. According to the 1900 US Census, he resided with his parents, 2 sisters and 5 brothers in Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas; his Alabama-born father was employed as a carpenter. Edgar’s occupation was listed as “carpenter, apprentice.” Leaving home on several occasions, Payne painted houses, signs, portraits, murals, and local theater stage sets to pay his way. Traveling through the Ozarks, then around the Southeast and Midwest, he finally wound up in Chicago, and enrolled to study portrait art at the Art Institute of Chicago. He remained only 2 weeks at the institute, finding it too structured. He preferred instead to be self-taught, relying on practice and his own sense of direction. ...He earned his first major commission in 1917. In a bid to attract tourist, the Atchison, Topeka & 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. ...His lifelong obsession with the Sierras led 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 7th edition printing of the work was completed in 2005. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Alwin_Payne) undefined

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