Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 3rd of 1905, Erle Loran was a well known California painter, with his specialty being watercolors and plein air paintings in the California Style in the 1930's and 1940's.

He later turned to Surrealism and Abstraction. His works have been exhibited widely, most notably at MOMA, the Oakland Museum, and the Santa Barbara Museum. He died in Berkeley, California on May 20th, 1999.