"Running from Waves, Post Cover" Lot no. 4800
By Sarah S. Stilwell Weber 1878-1939
1921
30" x 25", Framed 37.5" x 32.5"
oil on linen laid to panel
Signed Initials Lower Right
REQUEST PRICE
PURCHASE REQUEST
Click any of the images above for additional views.
The Saturday Evening Post Magazine, July 23, 1921 (cover illustration).
Sarah Stilwell-Weber is celebrated for her captivating illustrations of children. While her early work often placed children within fairy worlds and dreamscapes, the arrival of her daughter Jane in 1909 marked a turning point in her artistic focus. Weber’s work evolved to depict children actively at play in the real world, within familiar settings like parks or the seashore, as beautifully captured in this image. Her illustrations of children joyfully interacting with natural environments evoke a vibrant sense of youth, imbued with pure happiness, innocence, and freedom. The dynamic composition of Running from Waves, showing gentle surf playfully touching an exuberant little girl’s feet, perfectly encapsulates this delightful feeling.
Weber's artistic journey was significantly shaped by her studies with the renowned Howard Pyle, who recognized her talent early on, offering her a scholarship and admitting her to his class at the Drexel Institute in 1897 at the young age of 17. Her professional success followed swiftly, with commissions from leading publications like The Saturday Evening Post.
She created her first cover for the Post in 1904. Weber's fresh and appealing style quickly gained popularity with readers, and editor-in-chief George Lorimer held her work in high regard, offering her a contract for a regular cover slot – a position later held by iconic artists like J.C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell. However, Weber declined the offer. While the reasons are often attributed to her desire to maintain a high level of artistic quality without the constraints of a fixed schedule, she nonetheless went on to create an impressive 60 covers for the Post, culminating in the charming Running from Waves, her final cover published on July 23, 1921.
Explore related art collections: Saturday Evening Post Covers / Children / Beach/Summer / 1920s / $50,000-$100,000
See all original artwork by Sarah S. Stilwell Weber
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sarah S. Stiwell Weber was fortunate as a student to attend the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia at the time Howard Pyle conducted his illustration class there (1894-1900). She also attended his summer classes at Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
Although Pyle’s influence is clearly evident in her work, her point of view was often highly imaginative and exotic; she did fairy tales about or for children particularly well. Her pictures were well adapted to books, and in addition to such magazines as Harper’s, Bazar, Collier’s, St. Nicholas and The Saturday Evening Post, she illustrated a number of children’s books. She also wrote and illustrated a song book, The Musical Tree.
Stilwell also worked in collaboration with Howard Pyle in illustrating his The Angel and The Child in sensitive pen-and-ink drawings, as well as with Katherine Pyle (Howard Pyle’s sister) illustrating her book Childhood and verse published in Harper’s Bazar. Among her many advertising clients were Wamsutta Mills, Kiddie-Kar, Fleishman’s Yeast, H-O Oats, Scranton Lace Company, Rit Dyes, and Williams’ Talc Powder.