Ethel Magafan and her twin sister Jeanne were raised in Colorado Springs and studied at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center under Frank Mechau, whom they assisted with WPA murals. In 1938, through the 1940's Magafan received her own mural commissions, many of which were Western themed. Magafan's early works from her solo exhibitions, in 1938 at the Denver Art Museum, in the late 1930's at the Art Institute of Chicago were well received. After spending the 1940's living in Los Angeles and Wyoming, Magafan settled in Woodstock and married fellow artist Bruce Currie in 1946. While her style became more abstract, Magafan continued to be inspired by the natural world around her. She found greater success, and had solo exhibitions with Jacques Seligmann Galleries and Midtown Galleries in New York during the 1950's and 1960's. Magafan was elected a National Academician by the National Academy of Design in 1968. Her work has been exhibited and collected by some of the most important institutions in the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
