Rural New England surroundings were ideal for the rustic scenes this artist delighted in painting. His main characteristic, indeed the major focus of much of his work, was the tree. Singly, or in groves, they appear dominant in his landscapes, It was stated that "no one could paint a tree like 'Ned' Hayden."

Edward Parker Hayden was born May 21, 1858 in Haydenville, Ohio, and spent his boyhood in nearby Columbus, Ohio. He was the son of William Hallock and Eliza (Goodspeed) Hayden. As to his artistic education, it is known that he studied at the Art Students League in New York and under William Picknell.

By the early 1880's he was exhibiting at the Salmagundi Club - the elite New York artist's social society of which he was a member. The year 1890 finds the artist living in Haydenville, Massachusetts - a sister city to his birthplace as both were founded by relatives - and in a studio partnership with William LaValley.

He began exhibiting at the National Academy in 1889 and continued to do so through 1897.

Later exhibitions included the Boston Art Club, the Philadelphia Art Club, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Society of American Artists.

The artist eventually moved to Cummington, Massachusetts, an even more primitive area, to pursue the scenes of nature that he so dearly sought. He died there February 7, 1922, and was buried in Haydenville, Massachusetts.

In December of 1942, the Columbus Museum of Art held a small exhibition of his work, Of the twenty-three canvases shown they wrote: "They follow his style from its somewhat precise beginnings through an expanding palette and growing sense of construction to his mature expression of 1910-1916....

It is interesting to see how exactly and with what native feeling he noted the mood and flavor of his scenes, so that while his method often recalls the work of other men, it was actually dictated by the needs of the individual painting."