Elizabeth Eleanor D'Arcy Gaw

Elizabeth Eleanor D'Arcy Gaw (May 4, 1868 – November 12, 1944) was a prominent Arts and Crafts artist whose style influenced her former business partner Dirk van Erp and noted architect Lawrence Buck.

She worked as interior designer and, with two classmates of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lawrence Buck and Mary Mower, she opened "The Crafters" a firm that was advertised in House Beautiful from 1901 to 1903.

[1] Their studio-offices were located in Steinway Hall, the heart of Chicago's progressive architectural movement where Dwight Perkins, Robert C. Spencer, A. Phelps Wyman, and Frank Lloyd Wright also maintained their professional presence in the city.

[3] In September 1909, D'Arcy Gaw entered into a partnership with Palmer's rival, Dirk van Erp, and they opened a studio on Sutter Street, San Francisco.

The harmonious tones of draperies and hangings, with the long, low shelves, settees and mission furniture, tend to make it bright and attractive along lines almost severe in their simplicity.

[7] In the middle of 1909, D'Arcy Gaw taught at a summer school and after she partnered with van Erp, she opened a private class for instruction in designing and metal work.

[1] Elizabeth Eleanor D'Arcy Gaw died on November 12, 1944, in Monterey, California, at age 76, and is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, with her family.