(George) Wesley  Browning was born in Salt Lake in 1868.  He was full-time businessman and weekend painter who gained respect among early Utah artists as a talented watercolorist.  He died in Salt Lake City in 1951.

Browning made his living as an accountant for the Rio Grande Western Railway from 1890 to 1938. He was also an amateur botanist and entomologist and an authority on Utah flora. Browning’s other avocation was painting.

Browning became one of the first Utahans to paint primarily in watercolor.  Although he never received formal training in art, he associated with early Utah realists and impressionists―Dan Weggeland, George Ottinger, and J. B. Fairbanks.  He was the first noncharter member of the Society of Utah Artists.  Through his association with artists such as Fairbanks and Hafen, Browning was exposed to impressionistic techniques.  Sunset in the Wilderness (1905) demonstrates his interest in nature and impressionist techniques.

In 1905, Browning exhibited his work at the Art Institute of Chicago and in 1944 at the Art Barn in Salt Lake City.   He won first prize in the Springville annual exhibit in 1922.

Biographical information on this page was adapted from Artists of Utah.