Elizabeth Shannon Phillips (1911–1997), also known as Elizabeth Phillips Heller, was an American painter, watercolorist, and muralist.[1][2][3]
Elizabeth Shannon Phillips | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 27, 1911 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 1997 (aged 86) North Branford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Other name | Elizabeth Phillips Heller |
| Education | Carnegie Mellon University, Art Students League of New York |
| Occupations | Painter, watercolorist, muralist, newspaper editor |
| Spouse | Franklin M. Heller (m. 1939–1997; her death) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation (1933) |
Early life and education
editElizabeth Shannon Phillips was born in 1911, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to parent William Shannon Phillips.[4] Her sister Peggy Philips was also an artist.[5]
Phillips graduated in 1933 from Carnegie Mellon University (formerly Carnegie Institute of Technology); and continued her fine art studied at the Art Students League of New York.[6][7] After graduation in 1933, Phillips won a fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.[6]
In 1939, she married actor Franklin M. Heller of Manhattan, who was her classmate at Carnegie Mellon.[4][7] He went on to work as the director of the television game show series, What's My Line? from 1950 to 1967.[8] Together they had one daughter, born in 1944.[1]
Career
editPhillips was a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh.[5] After her marriage she settled in Connecticut and edited the Stratford Weekly newspaper.[9]
In 1933, she had a still life painting of an ink bottle, a bag of tobacco, and a pair of shears included in the Hotel Schenley exhibition of Pittsburgh artists.[10] Her painting, Sunday Morning in the Park won accolades at the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh's annual show in 1936.[11]
Phillips was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture to paint a post office mural, Crossing of the West River, 1648 (November 1937) in West Haven, Connecticut, depicting local settlers on horses to the area of West River.[5][12]
She was commissioned for a mural at the U.S. Post Office in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania titled, Mountain Landscape (1942).[9] That mural depicted the local scenery and nature.
Phillips died from complications from pneumonia on June 14, 1997, in North Branford, Connecticut.[1] Her husband Franklin died less than a month after her in the summer of 1997.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 "Heller, Elizabeth Phillips (Published 1997)". The New York Times (Obituary). June 17, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Phillips, Elizabeth Shannon". Artists of the World. degruyter.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Judges at Art Exhibit Gives Prize For Water Color to Oil Painting". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. February 26, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Marriage of Phillips and Heller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 16, 1939. p. 10. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 Kantner, Dorothy (December 2, 1937). "Pittsburgh Girl Artist Hangs Mural in East". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 25. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Naylor, Douglass (April 30, 1933). "Kitchen Stove Wins Artists' Plaudits". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 50. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "F.M. Heller Engaged; Stage Manager Here to Marry Elizabeth Phillips, Artist (Published 1939)". The New York Times. March 22, 1939. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- 1 2 "Franklin Heller, 85, Director Of TV Quiz 'What's My Line?' (Published 1997)". The New York Times. July 11, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
- 1 2 "Elizabeth Shannon Phillips (1911–1997)". Post Office Art.
- ↑ Naylor, Douglas (September 7, 1933). "Bananas, Onions, Go Arty". The Pittsburgh Press – via Google News.
- ↑ Jena, Jenetta (February 7, 1936). "Fresh, Vivid, Pittsburgh's Own Artist". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – via Google News.
- ↑ Connecticut Writers' Program (1940). History of West Haven, Connecticut. Church Press. p. 84.