Biografie von Elizabeth OLDS (1897-1991)

Birth place: Minneapolis, MN

Death place: Sarasota, FL

Addresses: Mass. & New Hampshire (1929-32); Omaha (1932-35); NYC

Profession: Painter, printmaker, writer, lecturer

Studied: Univ. Minnesota, 2 years; Minneapolis Sch. Art, 1918-21; ASL, 1921-23; George Luks, Paris, France, 4 years; Guggenheim fellowship for painting in Europe, 1925-27

Exhibited: ACA Gal., NYC, 1937 (first solo); Weyhe Gal., NYC, late 1930s; Phila. Pr. Club, 1937 (first prize for lithograph); Phila. Artists All., 1938 (prize; PM comp., Artists as Reporters," 1940; Kansas City AI, 1933 (medal); Artists for Victory, MMA, 1942; Baltimore Mus. Art, 1944 (first prize for Mexican Village in watercolor); WMAA, 1942-56; PAFA Ann., 1947; Prints & Books for Children, MoMA; BM Int. Watercolor Exh., 1949, 1953, 1955; Staten Island Mus., 1969 (solo); M. Ryan Gal., NYC, 1996 (retrospective)"

Member: An Am. Group; Artists Lg. Am.; Am. Artists Congress; Serigraphy Soc., NYC

Work: NMAA; Minneapolis AI; MMA; MoMA; MMA; BM; BMA; NYPL; PMA; SAM; SFMA; Hirschhorn Mus.

Comments: A social realist of the WPA era, her works depict the Depression, industries, and African-Americans. She produced 20 screenprint editions during her tenure with the Silk Screen Unit of the WPA, and in 1945 turned to watercolor and collage. During the 1950s-60s she produced some blockprints, and worked as a reporter-illustrator. Publications: auth./illustr., The Big Fire, 1945; Riding the Rails, 1948; Feather Mountain, 1951; Deep Treasure, 1958; Plop Plop Ploppie,1962. Commissions: drawings on WWII years and Penn. coal country for New Republic, 1940-49; war material paintings for Fortune, 1942; series of paintings on Lykes Industry for Fortune, 1954. Teaching: private classes in silk-screen printmaking.

Sources: WW73; WW47; exh. cat., Annex Gal. (Santa Rosa, CA, n.d., c.1988); press release, M. Ryan Gal. (NYC, Nov. 1996); Falk, Exh. Record Series.