EDWARD MARION LANGLEY (1870-1949). Mini Jewel! So Charming! White Cottage, 4" x 5" oil on board (framed size: 7" x 8") signed lower right: Edward Langley. Provenance: DeRu's Fine Arts.
Painter. Born in London, England on March 27, 1870. When quite young Langley was abandoned by his parents in Australia. Making his way to Canada, he traveled alone by canoe down to the Gulf of Mexico. In Chicago he worked with Wm Selig in developing the motion picture camera and became a U.S. citizen in 1904. Before that he had played trumpet in the Illinois State Guard for many years. Sometime before 1917 he came to Hollywood, CA with Selig where they produced the pioneer epic, 'The Spoilers." A few years later Langley became art director for the Fairbanks Studio on such films as "Thief of Bagdad," "Three Musketeers," and "Mark of Zorro." From 1921 until 1934 the Langley home in Los Angeles was a gathering place for artists and the film colony. When not busy with the movies, he was active in the local art scene. As a lecturer at local women's clubs, he used his paintings and special lighting effects to show the moods of the desert. Langley was painting in Japan when war erupted and was a prisoner there until 1943. Returning to California, he lived in Salinas, Laguna, and La Jolla where he taught painting classes. He died in Los Angeles on May 11, 1949, Langley is best known for his southern California desertscapes. Exh: Painters & Sculptors of LA, 1926; Mission Inn (Riverside), 1927; Bullocks (LA), 1929 (solo); Ebell Club (LA), 1920s. In: Desert Hot Springs (CA) Museum; Nevada Museum (Reno). PF; lnvw; CA&A; CD; SCA; DR.
Sources: Askart; Crocker Museum Art Store: Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes