Chronology

1927

Born Sheila Burton Eaton in New York City

1948-49 

Studies at the University of Geneva

1950 

Earns a Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania

Marries Heyward Isham (1926–2009), a US Foreign Service Officer, whose career included postings in Berlin, Moscow, Paris, Hong Kong, and Haiti

Becomes the first American citizen after World War II to be accepted to the Hochschule für Bildende Künst (Academy of Fine Arts) in West Berlin. Receives instruction from several artists of the Die Brücke (The Bridge) group

1954 

Awarded a Meisterschülerin or Masters degree with a focus on the graphic arts and painting from the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts

Is given her first one-person exhibition at Galerie Springer, Berlin

1955-57 

Continues her drawing and print practice in Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Obtains rare access to the diplomat George Costakis’s collection of Russian avant-garde artists, including works by Kasmir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marc Chagall.

1957

Establishes a studio practice in Washington, D.C. and creates work at the Pratt Graphic Center in New York City

1958-59

Work enters the permanent collections of major museums, including Yale University Art Gallery and the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Joins the Society of Washington Printmakers and begins exhibiting in group exhibitions, including American Prints Today, which was organized by the Print Council of America and shown in 16 museums

1961 

Has her first solo museum show at the National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

1962-65

Moves to Hong Kong and studies classical Chinese calligraphy with master Feng Kanghou

Tours parts of Southeast Asia, Japan, and Taiwan

Teaches contemporary art at the Chinese University

Has one-person shows in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Lectures extensively in connection with her one-person exhibitions beginning in the 1960s, which continues throughout her career

1965-71

Turns to contemporary trends in American art while living, working, and exhibiting in solo and group shows in Washington, D.C., and New York

1971-72

While living and working abroad in Paris, a studio fire destroys many works in Washington, D.C.

Lectures on art for the U.S. Information Services

1973-77

Has a studio practice and exhibits in both Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Sagaponack, New York

Has a major exhibition of paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. that travels to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (1974)

Lectures on art for the U.S. Information Services

Travels to Australia, Japan, and Korea

1977

Returns to Washington, D.C.

Has a major one-person exhibition, Faces of Spirit, which is organized by Osuna Gallery in Washington, D.C. and travels to the Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, Miami; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the West Indies; and 12 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and South America

1978

Settles in Sagaponack, Long Island

Lectures extensively at multiple venues, including the George Washington University Gallery, Washington, DC

1984-Present

Lives in New York City and Sagaponack  

– Researched and compiled by Andrea Lynn Kutsenkow, Researcher & Archivist