Edgar Britton known primarily for his murals, was also a painter in oil and watercolor and a sculptor in bronze. His work with simplified, weighty forms was influenced by the social-realist style of the Mexican muralists including Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco and Avid Siqueiros.
Britton was born in Kearney, Nebraska. He studied at the University of Iowa and with Grant 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, is in Chicago at the Chicago Heights High School and Deerfield Shields High School, and in Waterloo, Iowa at the Post Office.
Because he had tuberculosis, his doctor advised him to go to Colorado, which he did in the mid-1940s. He stayed there the remainder of his life and focused primarily on creating sculpture. Britton also taught art at the Fountain Valley School and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. From 1967 to 1971, he was a member of the Fine Arts Commission of Denver, and he served as President of the Artists Equity in Colorado Springs. He was also a member of the Broadmoor Art Academy.