Temple Courtyard

Elizabeth Eaton Burton

In 1933, Burton traveled to China and Japan to paint and to study woodblock printing. She made watercolors of local scenes, temples, folktales, and a series of the attributes of Quan Yin. A number of her watercolors were turned into woodblock prints by Japanese craftsmen by the Tokyo publisher Kato Junji. Her resulting watercolors and prints were displayed worldwide in a two-year solo exhibition in 1935-1936 that traveled from the Arlington Gallery in London to galleries in Peiping (Beijing), Shanghai, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and ending at the Schwartz Galleries in New York City.

Elizabeth Eaton Burton was born in Paris, France on January 20, 1869. The daughter of artist Charles Frederick and Helen Justice (Mitchell) Eaton, Elizabeth was raised in Paris, Versailles, Nice and Le Croisic in Brittany. She attended boarding school in England in 1885 and in Dresden a year later. When Helen’s health began to decline due to the climate the Eaton family left France and settled in the coastal town of Santa Barbara, California in 1886. In Santa Barbara, Charles Eaton began to establish himself as an arts and crafts designer, working in metal, leather, and glass. At a relatively young age, Elizabeth was introduced to all of these media and eventually exhibited along with her father in various arts and crafts shows in Southern California.

In 1893, Elizabeth married William Waples Burton and at the close of 1896, she opened her burnt leather studio. By 1901 she had shown in New York and California, and her pieces gained notice by important collectors and socialites. She exhibited in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, Missouri and, in 1908, she received her first medal at the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle.

Elizabeth Burton moved to Los Angeles in 1910, opened her studio in the Blanchard Building, and published a catalog promoting her electric lamps. Her husband died in 1920 and two years later she returned to France. She spent several years in France and returned to California to exhibit her paintings and raise funds on the lecture circuit. In 1933, Burton traveled to China and Japan to paint and to study woodblock printing. She made watercolors of local scenes, temples, folktales, and a series of the attributes of Quan Yin. A number of her watercolors were turned into woodblock prints by Japanese craftsmen by the Tokyo publisher Kato Junji. Between 1935 and 1936, her watercolors and color woodcuts were displayed worldwide in a solo exhibition that traveled from the Arlington Gallery in London to galleries in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and the Schwartz Galleries in New York City.

A versatile artist and an exponent of Arts and Crafts, Elizabeth Burton made color woodcuts, watercolors, book bindings, tooled leather décor and equestrian detailing, lamps, and stained glass.