Erle Loran biography provided courtesy of “California Watercolors 1850-1970” by Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last. Copyright Hillcrest Press, Inc. 2002

ERLE LORAN (1905-1999)...Born: Minneapolis, MN

STUDIED: Minneapolis School of Art.

MEMBER: San Francisco Art Association, California Water Color Society.

Erle Loran attended the University of Minnesota in the early 1920s and then continued his education with Cameron Booth. Loran was awarded the Chaloner Foundation Prize in 1926 and spent the following four years in France studying art, painting and writing. When he returned to America, he settled in Norther California and became a professor of art at the University of California, Berkeley. It was during this period that Erle began to exhibit his watercolor paintings and helped to develop what became known as the "Berkeley School" style of watercolor painting.

In addition to his fine art painting and teaching, Erle Loran wrote "Cezannes's Composition", in print for over forty years and still considered the most thorough study of the formal aspects of that artist's work. He has also written articles for numerous national art magazines.

Erle Loran biographical Information, Interview with Erle Loran, 1983.