Known primarily for his murals, Edgar Britton was also a painter in oil and watercolor and a sculptor in bronze. His work, with "simplified, weighty forms", (Kennedy 95) was obviously influenced by the social-realist style of the Mexican muralists including Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and David Siqueiros.

Britton was born in Kearney, Nebraska and studied at the University of Iowa and with Grand Wood from 1920 to 1924.

His reputation was established during the Depression years when he did numerous paintings and murals for the Federal Art Project including serving as Director from 1940 to 1941 of the mural division of the Illinois Art Project. His fresco work, completed for the Works Progress Administration,...