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Helen Taylor Sheats
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Helen Taylor Sheats (1910-1999)
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Helen Taylor Sheats, born Helen Caroline Johnson on April 21, 1910, in Chicago, was an artist known for her vibrant and expressive portraits, as well as her pioneering work in modern architecture. Raised on the West Side of Chicago, across from Garfield Park, Helen grew up in a creative household where her education was conducted at home alongside her sister Jessie. Helen’s formal education in art began at the University of Wisconsin, where she graduated in 1930 with majors in both art and science. She further refined her artistic skills with two years of study at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1932, she married Vern Taylor, an agronomist she met during her time at university. The couple moved to Madison, where Helen’s interest in design further developed. She designed and built her first house—an innovative steel structure based on modular design principles, influenced by the cutting-edge ideas she encountered at a World’s Fair. This home, now known as the Taylor House, still stands in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin.
Helen and Vern had two children (Marion and Tuck), but tragedy struck in 1940 when Vern died of complications from childhood rheumatic fever. Helen returned to the University of Wisconsin to obtain a teaching credential and began teaching art to grammar school students. It was during this period that she met Paul Henry Sheats, whom she married in 1942, expanding her family with two more children, Peter and Michael. Paul’s son from a previous marriage, Paul Douglas, joined the family in the summers.The family’s move to New York City and later to Los Angeles marked new phases of creativity and exploration for Helen.
In Los Angeles, Helen’s passion for modern architecture flourished. She collaborated with John Lautner, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, to design and build two residences: a futuristic apartment complex near UCLA (1950) and a distinctive hillside home in Beverly Hills (1963). Both structures, renowned for their innovative designs, remain milestones in the career of Lautner, and highlight Helen’s forward-thinking approach to architecture.
After her divorce from Paul and with her children grown, Helen’s artistic pursuits took center stage once more. She studied under the noted Los Angeles painter Arnold Schifren (1926-1994) and began producing works that illustrated a deep emotional maturity and technical refinement. Her paintings from this period, such as Topanga River, reveal her talent for capturing landscapes and moments in a vivid, almost meditative style. Helen’s love for painting en plein air led her to form close collaborations with fellow artists, including Eileen O’Brien and Hollywood scriptwriter Sam Lauren, as they embarked on painting trips across Mexico (San Miguel de Allende) and Europe (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Florence and Venice). Her work is filled with an intense and bright vision of the world.
A key figure in Helen’s later life was Alfredo Valentino, who became one of her favorite portrait subjects and her partner. Valentino’s influence extended beyond his role as a model—his still life compositions, created from found objects and personal treasures, were the source of much of Helen’s inspiration.
Helen Sheats’ portraits are known for their emotive power and bold use of color, reminiscent of the neo-Fauvist movement. Her approach to portraiture also shares close parallels with that of New York artist Alice Neel (1900-1984). Both artists rejected the traditional notions of beauty and form in favor of capturing the psychological and emotional depth of their subjects. Like Neel, who is celebrated for her raw and deeply personal portraits that often focus on the inner lives of her sitters, Sheats sought to go beyond mere representation. Using the people she knew in her bohemian circles of Topanga Canyon and Venice, CA, she infused her portraits with an expressive use of color and form, capturing the essence of the individual rather than a strictly realistic likeness.
While Neel’s portraits often grappled with themes of vulnerability and introspection, particularly in her portrayal of women and marginalized individuals, Sheats’ portraits radiated a more vibrant and life-affirming energy. Influenced by her admiration for Matisse and Van Gogh, her work often bursts with bright colors and bold brushstrokes, creating a sense of dynamism and warmth.
By the time of her death in 1999, Helen Taylor Sheats had left a significant mark, not only in the world of painting but also in modern architecture. Her bold use of color in nearly two hundred paintings and numerous works on paper, her collaborations with significant architectural figures, and her pioneering spirit continue to be rediscovered and celebrated today.
Thank you to Helen’s son, Michael, for bringing his mother’s story and art collection to Lost Art Salon.
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