Elizabeth Olds facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Olds
|
|
|---|---|
Olds in 1937 (Archives of American Art)
|
|
| Born | December 10, 1896 |
| Died | March 4, 1991 (aged 94) Sarasota, Florida, USA
|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Art Students League of New York |
| Known for | Printmaking, silkscreen, woodcut, lithography, illustrations, children's books |
| Movement | Social Realism |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship |
Elizabeth Olds (born December 10, 1896 – died March 4, 1991) was an amazing American artist. She is famous for helping to make silkscreen a respected art form. Elizabeth was a painter and illustrator. But she is best known as a printmaker. She used different methods like silkscreen, woodcut, and lithography.
In 1926, Elizabeth Olds made history. She was the first woman to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship. This award helped her travel and study art. She learned from a famous artist named George Luks. Elizabeth was also part of a style called Social Realism. This meant her art often showed real-life issues. During the Great Depression, she worked for government art projects. Later in her life, Elizabeth Olds wrote and drew pictures for six children's books.
Contents
Growing Up and Learning Art
Elizabeth Olds was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her family was middle-class. Her mother loved art and taught Elizabeth and her sister, Eleanor, about it. They often visited art museums like the Walker Art Center.
Elizabeth's artistic talent showed early. Her high school yearbook featured a funny drawing of a goose drinking tea. She first studied Home Economics and drawing at the University of Minnesota. This was from 1916 to 1918. Then, she won a scholarship to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She studied there from 1918 to 1921. In 1921, she got another scholarship. This one was to the Art Students League of New York. There, she learned from the artist George Luks.
Her Artistic Journey
Early Art Styles
Elizabeth Olds's early artwork showed the influence of her teacher, George Luks. They both explored the style of the Ashcan School. This art style focused on everyday life in cities. They visited the Lower East Side of New York. There, they observed the interesting lives of city people.
From 1923 to 1925, Elizabeth spent summers with friends in New York. In 1925, she got money to travel to France. While in France, she drew sketches of the famous Fratellini family circus. She even joined their show for a while as a bareback rider! In 1926, Elizabeth Olds became the first woman to win the Guggenheim Fellowship. This award allowed her to travel and study more in Europe.
Art During the Great Depression
When Elizabeth returned to the U.S. in 1929, the Great Depression had begun. In 1932, she saw amazing murals by José Clemente Orozco. His art inspired her with its strong shapes and political messages. That same year, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska. She painted portraits for a wealthy family there. But she soon found painting portraits boring. At the same time, she started learning about lithography at a printing business.
From 1933 to 1934, Elizabeth joined the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in Omaha. Through this project, she made many lithographs. These prints showed scenes from the Great Depression. She drew people in bread lines and shelters. This was a big change from portraits. Her art became more expressive, like Orozco's murals. She used bold lines and showed important social themes. Later, she studied a meat packing plant. This led to her famous 'Stockyard Series'. One of her prints, "Sheep Skinners," was shown in New York in 1935. It was called one of the “Fifty Best Prints of the Year.”
From 1935 to the early 1940s, Elizabeth worked for the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP). She was in the Graphic Arts Division in New York. She helped younger artists learn silkscreen. She also joined groups that shared her interests. Elizabeth became friends with Harry Gottlieb, another artist. They observed industries like mining and steel. This research led to her award-winning print, "Miner Joe." She used both silkscreen and lithography for this print. Her lithograph won first place in a competition in 1938.
Elizabeth Olds and Harry Gottlieb experimented with silkscreen printing. They wanted to make it a respected fine art form. They worked with other artists in the WPA-FAP silkscreen unit. From 1939 to 1941, Olds and Gottlieb opened their own Silk Screen School. They taught students the newest printmaking techniques. Her art was shown in a 1940 exhibit at the MoMA. The show was called American Color Prints Under $10. It aimed to make affordable art available to everyone.
Elizabeth also had 10 of her prints published in The New Masses. This was a magazine that focused on social issues. She also worked on a project to create murals for New York City Subway walls. But these murals were never put up. Elizabeth Olds's art showed her strong social awareness.
Later Works and Children's Books
After World War II, Elizabeth Olds tried new art forms. She experimented with watercolor, collage, and woodblock prints. Her silkscreen print, "Three Alarm Fire" (1945), led to a new idea. Someone suggested she should illustrate children's books.
From 1945 to 1963, Elizabeth Olds wrote and illustrated six children's books. In three of her books, she wrote about firefighters, trains, and oil. She wanted to teach young readers about these important industries.
In the early 1950s, Elizabeth worked as an illustrator for magazines. These included The New Republic and Fortune (magazine). In the summers of the 1950s and 1960s, she was an artist-in-residence. This meant she lived and worked at artist communities. These were Yaddo near Saratoga Springs and McDowell in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Her personal papers are kept at the University of Texas.
Children's Books
Elizabeth Olds wrote and illustrated six picture books for children. The books published by Houghton Mifflin used lithography. The books published by Scribner's used woodcuts. Her book Feather Mountain, published in 1951, was a runner-up for the famous Caldecott Medal. This award honors the best picture book for children each year.
- The Big Fire (Houghton Mifflin, 1945)
- Riding the Rails (HM, 1948)
- Feather Mountain (HM, 1951)
- Deep Treasure: the story of oil (HM, 1958)
- Plop plop Ploppie (Scribner's, 1962)
- Little Una (Scribner's, 1963)
Personal Life and Retirement
Elizabeth Olds never married. She had close friendships with other artists like Harry Gottlieb and Berenice Abbott. In 1972, Elizabeth retired to Sarasota, Florida. She continued to create art there until she passed away in 1991.
Awards and Exhibitions
Elizabeth Olds received many awards and had her art shown in important places:
- 1934: Her lithograph "The Dying Gangster" won silver at the Kansas City Art Institute.
- 1935: "Sheep Skinners" was shown in New York as one of the “Fifty Best Prints of the Year.”
- 1936: "Bootleg Coal, Pennsylvania" was featured in the book America Today: One Hundred Prints.
- 1937: She had a solo show of her steel mill drawings at the A.C.A. Gallery.
- 1938: "Miner Joe," a lithograph, won first place in a competition in Philadelphia.
- 1939: "The Middle Class," a lithograph, won first place in a competition in Philadelphia.
- She had solo shows at the A.C.A. Gallery in 1941, 1950, 1955, and 1960.
- 1969: She had a solo exhibition at the Staten Island Museum.
