Elizabeth Warhanik was one of Seattle’s most prominent early artists. She excelled in oil, watercolor and printmaking. Her main subject matter was landscape and still-life-- especially florals--the flowers derived from her garden.
Born in Philadelphia, Warhanik spent five years teaching in Japan before moving to Seattle in 1907. In 1910 she married Charles Warhanik in Seattle and remained there for the rest of her life.

Warhanik was born into an artistic family. Her parents were both artists who met at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art . She was related to the Wyeth family, and her sister, Eleanor Campbell, was an illustrator who became known for her illustrations for the popular “Dick & Jane” reading primers.

She studied at Wellesley College (Degree in Classical Literature) and painting with Charles Woodbury. At the University of Washington, she studied with Walter Isaacs and Helen Rhodes and privately with Paul Morgan Gustin and Edgar Forkner.

She exhibited locally with the Seattle Fine Arts Society (predecessor of the Seattle Art Museum) where she won a prize in 1917. She exhibited in all of the local Annuals from 1916 through the 1950’s.
In 1930, Elizabeth Warhanik became one of the Founders of the Women Painters of Washington and the first President of the organization.

With the WPW, she exhibited locally and nationally, winning several awards. She was a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and the Northwest Printmakers, as well. Nationally, she exhibited at the Portland Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Wichita Art Museum, American Arts Alliance, NY, and the Western Association of Museum Directors (several venues in museums on the west coast).
In 1930, she had a solo exhibition with the Seattle Fine Arts Society and in 1938, a solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum.

Elizabeth Warhanik (standing) and Dorothy Dolph Jensen, c. 1950's

Untitled (Ballard Industrial), c. 1930's, watercolor

Composition, c. 1930, color blockprint

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