Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1895, Ivan Messenger earned an M.A. degree at Stanford University in 1921. He then taught romance languages at Stanford and the University of Texas until about 1925 when he settled in San Diego. In 1926 he held his first solo exhibition and later taught at San Diego State University and held classes in life drawing in Balboa Park's Fine Art Gallery. Although primarily a watercolorist, he was equally facile with pastels, charcoal, crayons, gouache, ink, gesso, and oil. Messenger is best known for his paintings of the desert and back country near San Diego. He died in San Diego on Sept. 6, 1983.
