"Two Separate Illustrations: Little Boys Sitting on a Wall & Little Girls Si" Lot no. 4824
By Jessie Willcox Smith (American- 1863-1935)
1905
Each: 7" x 11.5", Individually Framed, each: 13.5" x 18.5"
Ink/Pencil on paperboard
Signed
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Two illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (New York: Scribner's, 1905), for III: "To Auntie", Page 116
Two charming line illustrations by Smith from the critically acclaimed book by Stevenson that helped cement her reputation as a master illustrator in her day. The Chief editor of Scribner's, Joseph H. Chapin, saw great success with the Maxfield Parrish-illustrated "Poems of Childhood" by Eugene Field, the first title in his new series of "Scribner's Illustrated Classics." He commissioned Smith to take on Stevenson's work for this second title, which was a huge compliment to the young Philadelphia artist.
Chief of our aunts -- not only I,
But all your dozen of nurselings cry --
What did the other children do?
And what were childhood, wanting you?
Explore related art collections: Black & White / Children / Books / $5,000 - $20,000 / 1900s / 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.