"V" is for Verner, Elizabeth O’Neill (1833-1979)

"V" is for Verner, Elizabeth O’Neill (1833-1979). Artist. A native of Charleston, Verner attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Returning home, she emerged as a leading figure of the Charleston Renaissance. Early in her career, she focused on etchings of Charleston street scenes that depicted the city’s architectural heritage and African American residents. Attached to her birthplace, she felt obligated to portray its picturesque charm. After a 1937 trip to Japan, Verner began to work in a new medium--pastel. In her pastels she frequently portrayed flower vendors, a Charleston tradition that she helped preserve when a new city ordinance threatened their existence. She produced books and articles, using her etchings and drawings to disseminate the charms of Charleston. One of Elizabeth O’Neill Verner’s best-known works is Mellowed by Time: A Charleston Notebook.