Ethel Magafan
Born Illinois, 1914
Died New York, 1993

Ethel Magafan and her family settled in Colorado Springs in 1919, where she and her twin sister, Jenne, attended the Broadmoor Academy (later named the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center). At the Academy, Ethel was highly influenced by Peppino Mangravite, Boardman Robinson, and particularly Frank Mechau.

Ethel had a successful painting career throughout the 1930's and 1940's. During the Works Projects Administration era, she received six mural commissions. Many of the commissions contained western themes, including Prairie Fire for the post office in Madill, OK (1941) and Horse Corral, for the post office in Denver (1942).

Magafan continued to live in Colorado Springs until 1941 when she moved to Los Angeles for the better part of five years, also briefly living in Wyoming. In 1945, Magafan settled in Woodstock, New York where she married artist Bruce Currie and continued her career as a successful easel painter.

Taught: Artist-in-residence, University of Georgia, Athens, 1973; Syracuse University, 1976.

Awards: Fulbright Grant, 1951.

Murals: Washington DC - Senate Chamber, Department of Health Education and Welfare, 1941; Post offices in Auburn, NE, (1938), Wynne, AR (1940), Madill, OK (1941), South Denver Branch, CO (1942).

Exhibitions: Denver Art Museum, 1938-40, 42, 43; "Artists of the West of the Mississippi", 1940, 41 & 45; Metropolitan Museum of Art; National Academy of Design, 1965-78.

Works Held: Denver Art Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; National Museum of American Art; Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS.

Biography courtesy of David Cook Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/davidcook