Elenore Plaisted Abbott

American (1875-1935)

Elenore Plaisted Abbott was born in Lincoln, Maine.  She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  After moving back to Philadelphia in 1899, Abbott studied with Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute.

Abbott was a book illustrator, scenic designer, and painter. As an illustrator she produced work for Harper’s Magazine, the Saturday Evening Post, and Scribner’s. Abbott created illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Kidnapped, Johann David Wyss’s Swiss Family Robinson, Louisa May Alcott’s Old Fashioned Girl, and Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  Abbott also did scene design for the Hedgerow Theatre, including work for The Emperor Jones.

Abbott was a member of Philadelphia’s “The Plastic Club,” an organization established to promote “art for art’s sake,” which included Jessie Wilcox Smith, Violet Oakley, and Elizabeth Shippen Green. She exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Boston Art Club, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to the Plastic Club, Abbott belonged to the Philadelphia Water Color Club.  Her works can be found in the Brandywine Museum at Chadd’s Ford, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and the Delaware Art Museum.