Ella Fillmore Lillie was born in Minneapolis in 1884. She attended the Minneapolis School of Fine Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the New York School of Fine Arts, and the Cincinnati Art School. She studied with Ambrose Webster and Kenneth Hayes Miller, and worked with George Miller and with the German master printmaker Theodore Cuno creating several lithographs.

Lillie worked as a visual artist, lithographer, painter, screen printer, and craftsperson in Vermont and in Florida. She had a natural gift for capturing everyday life in her lithographs which depicted people and landscapes across North and Central America.

Lillie’s artworks are well represented in many major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her lithographic output is estimated to be around 200 works.