Milford Zornes was born in Oklahoma on January 25, 1908. He moved west to California during the Dust Bowl years. After turning twenty years old, he hitchhiked across the United States where he worked as a longshoreman on the docks in New York City and then traveled to Europe.

Returning to Los Angles in the early 1930's, he studied at the Otis Art Institute. He joined the California Watercolor Society and became an artist of importance. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. had a one man show for him in 1933. President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt noticed his work and selected a painting for the White House. A predominant theme in his life was to travel. Zornes did murals during World War II for the Federal Arts Project of W.P.A.. He was a United States Army artist correspondent.

During his career, he taught at Pomona College, Otis Art Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, Riverside Art Canter, and the Pasadena School of Fine Arts.

Milford Zornes passed away on February 24, 2008.

Sources:

Wesley P. Jessup, American Art Review, April 2003
Daily Bulletin, February 2008

Photograph courtesy of Maria Zornes Baker.