Edgar Payne Monument Valley, Riverbed Oil on canvas 25 1/4" x 30 1/4"

Sometimes, the architect and artist Conrad Buff (1886­1975) would also accompany the family. Buff would frequently take Evelyn out fishing. Although Edgar never formally gave painting classes, he did, however, take on some students during the Great Depression. Occasionally, a student would join him on a Sierra trip. “Packers,” whose job it was to handle the mules used for transporting supplies, also accompanied the family on these trips. For the record, according to Evelyn, it was the packers who named “Payne Lake” in the Sierras after Edgar Payne. In fact, the lake is located above the timberline and Payne actually never paint ed there.

The Payne family frequently traveled to Europe. On these trips, Elsie became her daughter’s playmate, teacher, friend, as well as mother. At the Louvre Museum, Elsie quizzed Evelyn, age nine, about a particular painting, asking her which parts were done by the master artist and which parts by the students. Her mother was pleased when Evelyn answered correctly. Cranking to start their automobile, the family drove from city to city with all available space taken by art and personal supplies. Evelyn recalls having to share the backseat with large paintings and sketches. Edgar carried a twelve by sixteen inch sketchbook and would work two to three paintings a day. A crowd would often gather when Elsie painted, and Evelyn can remember a time in Venice when the crowd was so large that they blocked Elsie from seeing what she was trying to paint. To solve this frequent problem, Elsie began to give young Evelyn painting supplies, and it became her job to set up and paint a short distance from her mother. The throng of onlookers would then gather around little Evelyn, and Elsie was left to work in peace.

The Payne family kept company with other artist families. Evelyn’s playmates included Hanson Puthuff’s (1875­1972) five children and Joseph Kleitsch’s (1881­1931) son. Julia Bracken Wendt (1871­1942) and William Wendt (1865­1946), whose work Edgar much admired, were also close friends. One evening, the Paynes visited the Wendt’s for dinner, Evelyn recalls seeing an odd reversal of family roles. William was in the kitchen preparing dinner while Julia was on top of the house repairing the roof.

Early in his career, Edgar gained a reputation in Chicago for his impressive murals in theaters and in Los Angeles for his scene paintings for studios. Edgar and Elsie collaborated on several mural commissions, with Edgar painting backgrounds and scenery, and Elsie painting figures. It was Edgar, who usually negotiated the jobs, which included commissions for the American Theater and the Congress Hotel, both in Chicago. The mural at the Congress Hotel, which consisted of an Italian garden scene, is thought to be Edgar’s last mural work. To paint the scene, the Paynes rented a large studio space in Glendale, California, and recruited the help of artists, Conrad Buff, Jack Wilkinson Smith (1873­1949), Peter Nielsen (1873­1965) and F. Grayson Sayre (1879­1939). This mural was painted, as Mrs. Hatcher recalls, on a giant roll of unbleached muslin. Unfortunately, today there is no visual record of this painting. At the end of one performance at the American Theater, Edgar Payne was brought on stage to be recognized for the mural he had painted for the theater. The leading actress held out her hand for him to kiss, but he refused out of embarrassment and walked off the stage.

Although the couple sometimes collaborated, there was also a subtle competition between husband and wife. Edgar had little formal training, which consisted of attending the Chicago Art Institute only briefly for six months and mostly learning painting from attending gallery and museum exhibits. However, Elsie was more formally trained, attending the Best Art School in San Francisco. After graduation, she gained a name for herself working as a commercial and advertising illustrator. On one of her visits to Chicago, she was immediately offered many jobs because of her fine reputat ion as an excellent artist.

Edgar Payne Sentinels of the Coast, Monterey Oil on canvas 28"x 34"

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