Collection: Ellen Nathan Singer

(b. 1937)
Ellen Nathan Singer earned her BFA in Acting from Columbia University in 1957. A year later, she enrolled at The Art Students League, where she was awarded scholarships and discovered the art of woodcut—a medium that became central to her creative life and one she later taught at the League. Inspired by “colors that build like gels on theatre lights” and the clarity of graphic design, she developed a distinct visual language rooted in precision and atmosphere. Her exploration of printmaking expanded to include etching and aquatint, techniques that allowed her to experiment with tone, texture, and light.

Singer has been a vital force within the printmaking community, serving on the council of the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA), including a term as vice president. She is also a member of Audubon Artists, Allied Artists, The Boston Printmakers, and a life member of The Art Students League.

Her work has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (2016, 2022), gold and silver medals from Audubon Artists, honors from Allied Artists, the Delta National Small Prints Purchase Award, a SAGA Award, and the 2024 Gold Medal from the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club.

Singer’s prints are represented in major public collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Newark Public Library, The New York Public Library, and The Art Students League of New York.

Her art is grounded in observation and emotion—reflecting influences from her Brooklyn childhood, her love of theatre and the circus, and her sensitivity to the fragility of the modern world. Through these themes, she captures life’s beauty, complexity, and impermanence with a quiet, lyrical intensity.