Edward O'Brien (mural artist)

Edward O'Brien was an American artist and muralist.

Edward O'Brien was born August 11, 1910 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents were Irish Catholic. His father was a grocer. O'Brien began going to art galleries and museums at an early age with his grandfather (his father's father). When his grandfather died before he was ten, Edward O'Brien continued to explore art and to draw. At nine, he studied art at the Diocesan Preparatory School. As a teenager, he continued his studies at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, giving up his thoughts of joining the priesthood. By 1931, O'Brien was studying at the Art Institute in Chicago where he met John Rheinhardt, professor of English and Latin at Crane College, who would become his lifelong friend and counsellor.

In the 1930s, Edward O'Brien found work painting murals on public buildings. He also worked as a book illustrator and stained glass designer.

With the arrival of World War Two, O'Brien was rejected from all branches of the armed forces because of a pierced eardrum and back injury. Instead, he took a war industry job and continued his drawing and studying at night.

After the war, Edward O'Brien began a period of drifting. His parents had died and his family rejected him for not going into the priesthood, unlike his younger brother. O'Brien roamed the Midwest in search of work and finally returned to Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh, Edward O'Brien began a collaboration with sculptor Clarence Courtney and architect Brandon Smith. At this time, he painted his first large mural, together with portraits and religious egg tempura works. In the following years, work took him to Western Pennsylvania and Miami Beach. Work was abundant, but O'Brien felt called to enter a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky where he remained in reflection for some time.

At the monastery, Edward O'Brien was inspired by writings of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Thereafter, he left to work as a therapist's assistant at a home for handicapped children in Pittsburgh. He also continued his studies and painting.

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