Elsie Motz Lowdon

Elsie Motz Lowdon, Perdita, 1915, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice L. McGowan, 1984.12.1

Elsie Motz Lowdon (1883–1960) was an American painter of portrait miniatures from Texas. She lived most of her life in Waco and Abilene, Texas.

Life Elsie Motz Lowdon was born as Elsie Motz on December 10, 1883, in Waco, Texas, and spent her early youth there. In the 1880s she moved with her family to Abilene, Texas. before moving to New York City, where she undertook further lessons with Lucia Fairchild Fuller and Elsie Dodge Pattee. she also showed her work at a variety of other venues, presenting a portrait at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. Known particularly for portraiture, she depicted members of such prominent Houston families as the Blaffers and Hobbys, as well as noted novelist Ellen Glasgow. Lowdon also produced a variety of interior and genre scenes.

She died of a heart attack on May 19, 1960, in a nursing home in Fort Worth. and two are owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work may also be found in The Grace Museum in Abilene.