1898-1992. One of the only women associated with the Precisionist movement in early 20th century American art, Elsie Driggs painted in a clean, smooth, and coolly ordered style. Along with Charles Sheeler, Charles Demuth and others, she commemorated the bridges, planes, towers, mills, and factories that made up America's new industrial landscape, and exhibited with these artists at New York's Daniel Gallery. Driggs also created works in watercolor and pastel, and produced three murals under the auspices of the WPA's Federal Arts Project for post offices in Los Angeles during the early 1930s.
Driggs was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and moved with her family to New Rochelle, New York, as a young girl. In 1918, she began her training at New York's Art Students League under John Sloan, George Luks, and Maurice Sterne, and traveled to Italy for further study from 1922-24. She was one of the artists invited to exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art's opening show in 1930, "35 Under 35," and was awarded a prestigious Yaddo Fellowship in 1935. Driggs was married to the artist Lee Gatch, and lived in Lambertville, New Jersey, for many years, returning to New York after Gatch's death in 1968. |