Edward Denyer was born in London, England Sept 28, 1917, and at the age of seven came with his family to the U.S. Raised in New Jersey, at nineteen he attended night classes at the 8th St Art School, knowing by then that his life would be devoted to painting. Stationed in the Pacific during World War II, he painted portraits of soldiers, and when the war ended he studied (via the G.I. Bill) at The Art Students League in N.Y.C. under the guidance of Will Barnet. This was an important time for Ted who described Will as “…a wonderful human, so knowing, so concentrated, and so giving. It was in his class that real language of art was taught, and it was there I learned to appreciate the mystery of creation.” Ted married artist Barbara Clark and took a teaching position at the University of Missouri in 1949. An inspired, uncompromising teacher, he was well-liked by many students but did not fit in with the existing department. Daughters Lauri and Stephanie were born in Missouri. Anne was born after the Denyers moved back to N.Y.C. in 1956, where, after some struggle, Ted found satisfying work at the American Museum of Natural History. In 1961 the Denyers moved to Irvington, NY, where Ted created a large studio, allowing him to work on a large scale. During this time, Ted was invited back as a visiting teacher at the University.

From the late 1950s into the ‘70s, the Denyers spent half of each summer in Truro, MA, drawn there to be near other artists and the spectacular natural setting. The influence of the outer Cape light, the sand, sea, and horizon, began to be felt in Ted’s work. In 1974 his marriage ended and Ted moved back to N.Y.C. to a loft in Soho. In 1979, after twenty years, Ted retired from the Museum, and rebuilt a house in Mt Tremper, outside of Woodstock, NY, where he freely pursued a life of painting and contemplation until his death on Jan 2, 2006. Ted’s signature style of painting coalesced and matured during the Mt Tremper years. He taught a painting seminar at the Woodstock School of Art, and lectured about his work. During that time his paintings were exhibited periodically at the Woodstock Art Assoc. in group shows, and in 2001 he was given a major retrospective at Upstate Art Gallery In Phoenicia, NY. In Oct 2005 another major exhibit, along with a celebration of his life, occurred in Conway MA at the Marder/Cranmer property, a few months prior to his passing at the age of 88. Since then, eight large solo exhibitions focussing on different periods of Denyer’s work were curated there by Cranmer/Marder.