Untitled by Elizabeth Spalding, Watercolor on Paper
Artist Biography
Elizabeth Spalding, born in Colorado on March 28, 1868, settled in Denver in her adulthood, and Denver remained her home town her entire life.
Determined to become an artist, she went to New York to study drawing, including outdoor drawing with Leonard Ochtman and many others in the summers that followed, including studies in England and France.
Though Spalding worked in the eastern states, most of her works in oils and watercolors were in Colorado. She began making sketching trips to picturesque spots in the state and came to be recognized as one of the leading promoters of Colorado’s scenic wonders. Her many exhibits included Long’s Peak, Clear Creek Valley, Table Mountain, Colorado Foothills, Iron Bridge on Ute Pass, and The New Hogback Road which she showed at the New York World’s Fair (1939).
Among the many places she exhibited her work were watercolor clubs, the Colorado State Fair and the Broadmoor Art Academy. One person shows were at the following: Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe (1919); Galerie Jean Nart, Paris (1932); University of Colorado, Boulder (1936-1937); and Denver Art Museum (1942).
Elizabeth received a medal from the City Club of Denver in 1943 for “distinctive achievement in painting” and is represented in many Denver collections, including the Children’s Hospital; Denver Art Museum; Denver Public Library; and West High School.
Elizabeth died May 20, 1954.
