As a young woman she traveled extensively, but the paintings for which she is chiefly remembered mostly show the north German flatlands of her home region.
Elster produced numerous etchings, lithographs and, most notably, water colours depicting landscapes, often showing the same scenes at different times of day.
[1] Back in Germany she made it her habit to work from her studio at Leopoldstraße 31 in Munich during the summers months, returning to Bremen during the winters.
While in Bremen, and before heading south for the summer, she would spend the spring months as a member of the nearby Dötlingen Artists' Colony.
[4] Elster's harbour paintings, in particular, show off her own very distinctive style, the sense of space frequently emphasized with an "empty" foreground which sometimes extends far into the heart of the picture, evoking associations with photography or with Japanese woodcut images.
From 1904, as a member of the Luitpold Group, she participated almost every year in their exhibitions in cities such as Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Hamburg, and Bremerhaven.
[6] It was perhaps no more than a reflection of the attitudes common in those times that another enthusiastic critic, after commending her paintings for their "well judged line", the frugal and clever "economy of her handiwork" and a talent that bore comparison with a "thoroughly male artistry and balance".
[7] Most of Toni Elster's work, which includes various large format canvas print, is today in private hands, and not readily accessible to scholars or critics.
[1] Further afield, the State Museum for Art and Cultural History in Oldenburg holds and normally has on display two characteristic Elster paintings: "Kutter im Hafen" and "Moorlandschaft (Schneeschmelze)" ("Cutters in harbour" and "Moorland landscape under melting snow").
She commanded a formidable level of graphic craftsmanship which then found its way into her paintings when she returned to her studio, and added in her own unique impressionistic flavour.