Edmund Prior was born in Toronto in 1955. He has been a practising artist since graduating from the Ontario College of Art & Design in 1978.

Edmund Prior is a realist, figurative painter, having developed oil techniques based on his study of the masters in the great museums of Europe and North America. He continues to exhibit in solo and group exhibitions in different venues. His subject of choice is the figure in the urban environment. His influences are diverse, ranging from Renaissance art to 20th century New Objectivity and Stanley Spencer. Major themes in His work include portraits, urban transit, religious allegories and European cities.
"There are few more satisfying and emotive experiences than making marks on a piece of paper... The process of becoming an artist in the traditional sense is embracing the set of disciplines whereby one learns to give his marks greater tangible and universal meaning to a wider audience over a longer period of time"