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Biography of Elizabeth Shuff Taylor
(1880 - 1969)
Born : Elizabeth Mary Shuff on Dec 25 th , 1880 in New Berlin, Illinois. She was one of 5 children.
Raised on a farm in Island Grove, IL (west of New Berlin, IL)
Married: Frederick Dan Taylor of New Berlin, IL in 1903. He was a subject for some of her paintings. Daughter Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher, 88 years old, resides in Long Beach, CA.
Residence : Chicago, IL since about 1910 - various residences in the Hyde Park area of Chicago, IL. Brief residence in Milwaukee, WI around 1911-1912. In her mother-in-law's obituary written for the Illinois Historical Society (Dec 1911) it's mentioned that her son resides in Milwaukee, WI.
Died: Sept 14, 1969 in Buffalo, NY. Buried at Woodwreath Cemetery, Island Grove, IL
Education:
Illinois Women's College, Jacksonville, IL. She was a student there in 1900 and majored in Art.
Attended School of Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
Attended classes at SAIC - Saturday classes during 1903-1904, Normal day classes from 1906-1908 & then returning 1909-1911. No degree confirmed.
Graduate of New York School of Fine & Applied Art
Gloucester Artists Colony
Studied under Kenyon Cox and Henry Salem Hubbell
Organizations:
Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists
Society of Independent Artists
Provincetown Printers
Art Medium: Etching, water color, pastel, oil painting, color woodblock printing, & china painting.
Exhibitions:
Illinois State Fair - 1904, 1906-1912 - Oil painting, water color, pastel & china painting
Annual American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago - 1910, 1913, 1914 , 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921
American Watercolor Annual Exhibition - Chicago, NYC, & Philadelphia
Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Pastel & Water Colors, One Woman Show , Peoria Art Institute Nov. 7, 1916.
City Art Museum of St. Louis, "Selected Paintings by American Artists " 1916
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts -1917
Woodblock Color Prints in Color by American Artists - Detroit Institute of Arts , Nov 20-Dec 31, 1919
Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown, MA 1919 & 1920 color woodblock prints exhibition
Exhibition By a Group of Introspective Artists - The Arts Club of Chicago-May 6-June 1, 1921
Special Exhibitions of Paintings, The Society of Independent Artists, The Exhibition Record 1917-1944, Exhibited: 1920 & 1921
Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by American Cor Ardens - Nov 16-29, 1922 - The Arts Club of Chicago.
Retrospective Exhibition - Illinois National Bank, Springfield, IL - abt 1970
Retrospective "Turn of the Century Art - Paintings, Pastels, Watercolors by Elizabeth Shuff Taylor 1881-1969" - Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL - Dec 15, 1973- Jan 20, 1974
Provincetown Printers, A Woodcut Tradition -Provincetown Art Association & Museum - July 29 - Aug 21, 1983
Provincetown Printers, A Woodcut Tradition -National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution - Sep 9, 1983- Jan 8, 1984
The Provincetown Print 1915-1996 - Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Provincetown, MA - Jun 21-July 15, 1996
Museum Collections:
Color print, "Flowers" c.1919 - woodcut printed in color on laid japan paper, 13" X 11 3/4", Detroit Institute of Arts , purchased for $24 after the 1919 exhibition. The purchase price information is from the acquisition files at the Detroit Institute of Art. I met with the Print/Graphics department curator in June 2002. Accession Nbr 20.82.
"Flowers" - Color woodcut print - Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Bequest of John T. Spaulding, 1948 -Accession Nbr: 48.936 - Currently not on view.
Illinois State Museum , Springfield, IL. Purchased oil painting "Harbor Scene" c. 1920.
Private Collections:
Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher (the artist's daughter)-5 oil paintings & 1 watercolor (photo not currently available).
Elizabeth Anne Preston (the artist's granddaughter)-1 portrait miniature oil painting with copper Arts & Crafts style frame (Untitled) dated abt 1906.
Anne MacGregor (the artist's granddaughter) - 4" X 5" color woodblock print (Untitled) nicknamed by the previous owner, Robenia Myrer Smith as "Reindeer."
Everett Cashatt, Illinois - 1 oil painting portrait, probably of her husband, Frederick Dan Taylor
Illinois collector - purchased part of artist's sister's Flora Neuman's collection: 1 color woodblock print, 2 water color family portraits, 3 oil painting family portraits, 1 scenic oil painting.
Richard Wiener of Missouri may have some of her paintings. He organized & contributed paintings to the Illinois State Museum exhibition.
ES Taylor's Artwork Details
Portrait_Irma_Taylor - (Untitled) Oil painting miniature abt 1906. It is a portrait of her husband's niece, Irma Harriet Taylor (1899-1976) at age 5 or 6 yrs old. It won first prize at the Illinois State Fair per Irma Taylor.
It is my favorite painting & is the main reason why I've been researching her artwork and trying to get this wonderful portrait exhibited . The copper frame looks handmade.
Reindeer - - 4" X 5" color woodblock print (Untitled) nicknamed by the previous owner, Robenia Myrer Smith's daughters, as "Reindeer". Robenia Myrer Smith is the daughter of Provincetown Printer Angele Cormack Myrer. This color woodblock print was originally owned by Angele Cormack Myrer. She was encouraged to start a collection by artists Blanche Lazzell and Ada Gilmore Chaffee. Another woodblock print "Analogous Color Scheme" abt 1920 was sold in 1992. This print is a Christmas card to artist Blanche Lazzell.
"Red Headed Man Reading a Newspaper" - Water color portrait of her husband, Frederick Dan Taylor. It is titled on the back of the artwork. Any painting with a man with red hair is her husband. I have seen this painting and it is very fresh & relaxed. Originally in Flora Shuff Neuman's collection (the artist's sister).
Portrait of Fred Taylor 1 - (Untitled) Oil painting portrait of her husband Frederick Dan Taylor. This photograph does not do this painting justice. It has a brilliant orange background to complement his red hair. I "fell in love" when I saw this portrait. Originally in Flora Shuff Neuman's collection (the artist's sister).
Portrait 3 - (Untitled) Large sized oil painting portrait. Subject is probably one of her sisters. Originally in Flora Shuff Neuman's collection (the artist's sister).
JB2_Portrait1 (Untitled) - Large sized oil painting portrait. Subject is probably her sister Flora Shuff Neuman. Originally in Flora Shuff Neuman's collection (the artist's sister).
JB5_EBoynton - (Untitled) - Water color picture of the artist's mother, Emma Maria Boynton Shuff standing in her kitchen in front of the stove. My mother recognized this immediately when she saw this painting. Poor quality photograph. She is wearing a dark gray dress.
Untitled_Possibly_Gloucester - Oil painting of the pier. This could be Gloucester, MA. She has a lot of work from that area when you review the titles in the art exhibitions. Poor quality photograph but the painting has a pinkish hue.
JB4_Woodcut - (Untitled) color woodblock still life print. Originally in Flora Shuff Neuman's collection (the artist's sister).
ESTaylor- (Untitled) oil painting portrait. Subject is probably her husband Frederick Dan Taylor. Collection of Everett Cashatt, Illinois. He took the photograph & was a contributor to the Illinois State Museum Exhibition 1973-74.
Possibly_Provincetown - (Untitled) oil painting - behind glass. E.S. Taylor gave this painting to her daughter in about 1951. Good condition since it has been under glass. Collection of Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher.
ESTaylorPainting 6 - (Untitled) oil painting of a schooner ship. Possibly from Gloucester, MA or Provincetown, MA. Needs restoration work. Collection of Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher.
Provincetown Houses - (Untitled) oil painting- Probably from Provincetown, MA. Needs restoration work. I used to think this was a scary painting when I was young. I never figured out what it was until I took a trip to Provincetown, MA.Collection of Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher.
Provincetown 3 - (Untitled) oil painting. Probably from Provincetown, MA. Needs restoration work. Collection of Judith Boynton Taylor Mosher.
NOTES:
She was a very private person and we know very little of her early life.
Soon after the birth of her only child in July 1921, she retired from painting.
She gave away many of her paintings & woodblocks to friends and relatives. In about 1951 she gave her remaining 4 oil paintings to her daughter to decorate her new home.
Many paintings in the above exhibitions were painted in Gloucester, MA
Per the US Census 1910 she lists her occupation as Portrait Artist.
Per the US Census 1920 she lists her occupation as Artist with own Studio.
Her studio was referred to as "The Old Barn Studio" and was on Blackstone St. in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.
In the late1920's she became an antique collector /dealer and her business was called "The Colony Shop" . Her home living room was her shop, first on 5646 Kenwood and then on E 57th St in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.
She bought and sold antiques and had her own business until the late 1960's in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.
In the Illinois State Museum Exhibition biography, it is mentioned that there was a studio fire in 1923 and some of her works were destroyed.
During the 1970 exhibition at the Illinois State Bank in Springfield, IL some of her paintings were stolen. There may be some stolen works in the public domain. I don't think any were recovered.
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