As you come upon Shelocta, PA (1943), a painting in the permanent collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, you might think that you were viewing an Edward Hopper. This American scene painting is in fact by Philip Elliott (1903-1985), who lived and worked in Buffalo.

Shelocta, PA evokes not only the masterly style of Hopper but also the precision of Charles Sheeler and Ralston Crawford. Shelocta, PA was created in the same year that Congress shut down the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The piece reflects the Great Depression’s artistic movement towards socially relevant or traditional American scenes.

Elliott moved to Buffalo from Pittsburgh in 1941, when he accepted the directorship of the Albright Art School. Though he is considered an important Western New York artist in his own right, his better-known wife, the painter Virginia Cuthbert, often eclipses his legacy.

Elliott exhibited in many important group shows. His work was shown frequently at the Carnegie Institute of Fine Art. He showed at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His 1947 entry to the Pepsi-Cola Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art took home a $500 award.

He served as director of the Albright School until 1954. He then joined SUNY Buffalo as chairman of the Art Department.

His tenure at UB is considered by many to be the golden age of art and artists associated with the university. Among those who were involved during this period were Sheldon Berlyn, Harvey Breverman, Lawrence Calcagno, Virginia Cuthbert, Seymour Drumlevitch, Harriet Greif, Catherine Koenig, Walter Prochownik, and Don Robertson.

Elliott’s painting style and choice of subject matter was widely varied. His works explored the precepts of traditionalism, cubism, abstraction, and surrealism with equal skill. His subjects included still-lifes, landscapes, industrial monuments, and portraits.

In his own words, taken from a 1971 retrospective show at the Charles Burchfield Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center): “I lay claim to a kind of eclecticism of which I am by no means ashamed. I would be bored in art…following a consistent direction.”