"Evangeline: Tale of Acadie"   Lot no. 4341

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Illustration for the epic poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1897, facing page 60.

The full caption reads: “Speaking words of endearment, where words of comfort availeth not”

This watercolor is one of five illustrations Jessie Willcox Smith produced for Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1897. Smith’s close friend and collaborator Violet Oakley also produced five illustrations published in the edition. Both Smith and Oakley were students of Howard Pyle, who, having noted a similarity in their styles, set them up to collaborate on a project intended to illustrate a new edition of Longfellow’s epic poem while they were still his students. The drawings were later featured at the First Exhibition of the School of Illustration, held from May 29 to June 5, 1897. Pyle wrote a special introduction about the artwork in the First Exhibition's catalogue: "It may be interesting to mention that Miss Longfellow, the poet's daughter, was so pleased with these illustrations that she purposes writing an especial preface for this edition of the poem." The poet's daughter was so impressed with the artwork that Smith and Oakley were commissioned to illustrate the whole publication. That edition of Evangeline would become Smith and Oakley's first book commission.

Explore related art collections: Newly Researched / $20,000 - $50,000 / Books / 1800s / Women Artists / Brandywine School

See all original artwork by Jessie Willcox Smith

ABOUT THE ARTIST

            Jessie Wilcox Smith never married, but throughout her long career, specialized in drawing and painting mothers, babies and children. Her training was acquired at the School of Design for Women, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Thomas Eakins, and at the Drexel Institute under Howard Pyle.

            She had begun as a kindergarten teacher but turned to an art career with the stimulus and assistance of Howard Pyle. Some of her best-known illustrations were for books: Little Women, Heidi, A book of Old Stories and Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. She also painted a great many illustrations for magazines such as Collier's and McClure's, and did nearly 200 covers for Good Housekeeping. For several years, she shared house and studio with two other Pyle students, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley. Working in close proximity they also strongly influenced eachother's work as well as that of several other Pyle - school women. This relationship is told in The Red Rose Girls by Alice Carter. Smith painted and exhibited widely, revieving many awards, a Silver Metal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. She was also commissioned to paint many portraits of children.

            Two other biographies, Jessie Wilcox Smith by S. Michael Schnessel, and Jessie Wilcox Smith American Illustrator by Edward D. Nudelman (who also contributed A bibliography) have been published.