Elizabeth Shaw (artist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elizabeth Shaw
Elizabeth Shaw (1989, Berlin)
Born	4 May 1920 Belfast, Ireland
Died	27 June, 1992 Berlin, Germany
Occupation	Irish artist, illustrator and children's book author

Elizabeth Shaw (May 4, 1920 – June 27, 1992) was a talented Irish artist, illustrator, and author. She was especially known for writing and drawing many popular children's books.

Early Life and Artistic Journey

Elizabeth Shaw with Ludwig Turek at a political demonstration in Berlin, 1952

Elizabeth Shaw was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1920. When she was 13, her family moved to England. From 1938 to 1940, she studied art at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. She learned from famous artists like Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland.

During World War II, Elizabeth helped with the war effort. She worked as a mechanic from 1940 to 1944. In 1944, she married René Graetz, a sculptor and painter from Switzerland. In 1946, they moved to Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany.

Working as an Artist and Author

A memorial for Elizabeth Shaw at René Graetz's grave. Her ashes were scattered in the Irish Sea.

In Berlin, Elizabeth Shaw started working for Ulenspiegel, a magazine known for its funny and critical drawings (called satirical art). After that magazine closed, she worked for another similar one called Eulenspiegel.

From 1950, she also drew caricatures for a newspaper called Neues Deutschland. Caricatures are drawings that exaggerate someone's features for a funny or critical effect. In 1959, she created special lithographic portraits of 43 members of the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts) in Berlin.

Elizabeth Shaw was very busy. She illustrated stories by famous writers like Bertolt Brecht. She also wrote and illustrated her own children's books, which became very popular. She drew pictures for books by other authors too, such as James Krüss and Gerhard Holtz-Baumert. Elizabeth Shaw passed away in Berlin in 1992.

Awards and Special Recognition

Elizabeth Shaw received many awards for her amazing work. Some of these include:

• The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic
• The Hans Baltzer Prize
• The Leipzig Gutenberg Prize
• The Käthe Kollwitz Prize from the Akademie der Künste Berlin

To honor her, a primary school in Berlin-Pankow was named after Elizabeth Shaw.

Her Published Works

Elizabeth Shaw created many wonderful books, both as an author and an illustrator.

Children's Books She Wrote

Here are some of the children's books that Elizabeth Shaw wrote and illustrated:

• Der kleine Angsthase (The Little Scaredy-Hare), Berlin (1963)
• Gittis Tomatenpflanze (Gitti's Tomato Plant), Berlin (1964)
• Die Schildkröte hat Geburtstag (The Turtle Has a Birthday), Berlin (1965)
• Wie Putzi einen Pokal gewann (How Putzi Won a Trophy), Berlin (1967)
• The Little Black Sheep / The Little Black Sheep of Connemara, Dublin (1985)
• Wildschwein Walter (Walter the Wild Boar), Berlin (1988)

Books She Illustrated

Elizabeth Shaw also drew pictures for many other books, including:

• Mark Twain: Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven (German edition), Berlin (1954)
• James Krüss: Spatzenlügen und andere seltsame Begebenheiten (Sparrow Lies and Other Strange Events), Berlin (1957)
• Bertolt Brecht: Gedichte und Geschichten (Poems and Stories), Berlin (1958)
• Astrid Lindgren: Lillebror und Karlsson vom Dach (Lillebror and Karlsson-on-the-Roof), Berlin (1971)
• Rainer Kirsch: Es war ein Hahn (There Was a Rooster), Berlin (1975)

Collections and Autobiographies

Some of her works were collected into anthologies, and she also wrote about her own life:

• Das kleine Shaw-Buch (The Little Shaw Book), Berlin (1983)
• Eine Feder am Meeresstrand: Urlaubsskizzen aus 4 Badeorten (A Feather on the Seashore: Holiday Sketches from 4 Resorts), Berlin (1973)
• Irish Berlin, Berlin (1990)

• Works by and about Elizabeth Shaw (artist) in the German National Library catalogue