Green, Elizabeth Shippen (1871–1954)

American illustrator and watercolorist. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1871; died in Philadelphia in 1954; studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy; attended Drexel Institute, 1894; married Huger Elliott (an architect and teacher), in 1911; no children.

Known as an excellent draftswoman and a brilliant colorist, illustrator Elizabeth Shippen Green studied at the Pennsylvania Academy with Thomas Eakins, Robert Vonnoh, and Thomas Anshutz. At age 18, she sold her first illustration to the Philadelphia Times for 50 cents, after which her work began to pop up in many of the popular journals of the day, including Ladies' Home Journal, Saturday Evening Post, and Harper's Weekly. In 1894, while attending Howard Pyle's class at Drexel Institute, she met Violet Oakley and Jessie Willcox Smith , who became her lifelong friends and collaborators. The three women shared a studio-home until Green's marriage in 1911 to architect and teacher Huger Elliott. After her husband's death in 1951, she returned to the Philadelphia area to be near her friends.

Green illustrated over 20 books, most of them after her marriage, and was the first woman staff member of Harper's magazine. Strongly influenced by Art Nouveau and the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Green achieved a stained-glass effect in her illustrations through the use of outlines enclosing areas of brilliant color. She was also noted for her pen-and-inks and received numerous awards for her work. The artist died in Philadelphia in 1954.