"The Young Scholar, Good Housekeeping Magazine Cover" Lot no. 4792
By Jessie Willcox Smith (American- 1863-1935)
1922
17.5" x 16"
Mixed media on paper laid on board
Signed Lower Right
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Original cover for Good Housekeeping, published October 1922
The Young Scholar, reproduced on the cover of the October 1922 issue of Good Housekeeping, demonstrates Jessie Willcox Smith's exceptional ability to capture the delicate beauty and innocence of childhood. This tender, contemplative moment is characteristic of Smith's work, which often explored children's growth, their learning experiences, and the rich inner world of their imaginations. Here, we observe the quiet concentration of a young girl as she practices her letters. With her tousled hair and rosy cheeks, she embodies the vulnerability and focus of early education.
Smith's mixed media technique adds a subtle texture, particularly noticeable in the child's sweater, while also imbuing the scene with a dreamlike, hazy quality, as if it were a fondly recalled memory. The soft lines and warm, muted palette further enhance the nostalgic feeling, showcasing Smith's signature gentle style from this period.
Jessie Willcox Smith was one of the most popular illustrators of the twentieth century, and her work graced the pages of children’s books and leading publications like Ladies’ Home Journal, Collier’s, and Good Housekeeping. Though Smith never married and had no children of her own, she had a keen ability to render sensitive depictions of children, adeptly capturing their subtle expressions and gestures to form a poetic and romanticized vision of childhood that continues to resonate with viewers today.
LITERATURE:
E.D. Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith: A Bibliography, Gretna, Louisiana, 1989, p. 147.
Explore related art collections: Children / Women Artists / $100,000 & Above / School/Education / Magazine Covers / 1920s
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.