Biography
Some of the artists who painted Post Office murals in the 1930s and 1940s went on to be pioneers in abstract art and leaders of future American art movements. Of course not all of the Depression Era artists could be expected to chart a course to future fame. Many were competent practitioners who did not have major post-war careers in art. Elizebath Shannon Phillips was one of these more minor Post Office artists.
Phillips was born in Pittsburgh in 1911. She attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where she met a Theater student, Franklin Heller. Heller graduated from Carnegie Tech in 1934, intent upon an acting career. After appearing in several plays on Broadway and in summer stock in San Diego he eventually settled into working as a producer and director. And this proved to be an extremely successful move for him. He directed many television productions and became a producer for television and the theater in New York. His name was behind such long-running and successful programs as "What's My Line?", "To Tell the Truth" and "The Web."
Meanwhile Elizabeth extended her art education at the Art Students League and made a name for herself in the art world of the 1930s. She received a Fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and was a member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. She received a commission for a Post Office mural in West Haven, CT in 1938. She chose a historical theme for the mural, "Fording of the West River to Settle West Haven."
Elizabeth married Frank Heller in 1939. The same year she submitted a proposal to the 48 States Competition, which names artists to complete murals in every state. Her entry did not win that competition, but led to a commission for a mural at the Roaring Springs, PA Post Office, completed in 1942. The theme for that mural emphasized the beauty of the local scenery and was titled "Mountain Landscape." She and Frank had a daughter, Jane, born in 1944.
Elizabeth's later artistic endeavors are unknown. She no longer had the financial pressures that might have driven her work in the 1930s. She and Frank settled in Connecticut, where in 1955 the couple was editing the local Stratford Weekly. She died in North Branford, CT in 1997.
Critical Analysis
It's hard to draw general conclusions about the work of Elizabeth Shannon Phillips, since there are few examples available to study. Her West Haven, CT work was ambitious, packed with figures of humans and animals, and portraying the urgent energy of the historic river crossing. The colors are muted and naturalistic, and the overall result is very effective.
Phillips's Roaring Springs, PA Post Office mural provides a very different note. The colors are brighter, but the composition is much simpler, reminding one more of an illustration for a children's book more than a forceful and dramatic public presentation. Nonetheless, the painting is refreshing to look at and successfully captures the aura of the mountain landscape surrounding Roaring Springs.
Other examples of Phillips's work capture details of the places she lived. Her backyard scene in New York has many elements of interest and engages the viewer in a "Rear Window" sort of way, if without any sinister overtones. Her "Winter Landscape" is less successful, although it does convey the mood of a slightly oppressive snowy winter scene.
Murals
- West Haven, Connecticut - Post Office: Fording of the West River to Settle West Haven
- Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania - Post Office: Mountain Landscape
References
- Heller, Elizabeth Phillips (New York Times).
- Earl Wilson, It Happened Last Night, The Lima News August 21 (1958). Item on Frank Heller.
- Presentation of Painting - Mr. Frank Hannoch (Welcome to the Town of Dover). Presentation of the Phillips painting "Downtown Dover."
- The Significance of West Haven and the West River Crossing (West Haven Historical Society).