Lot Details
Lot 1248
Jessie Willcox Smith American, 1863-1935 Little Mother, circa 1922
American, 1863-1935
Little Mother, circa 1922
Signed Jessie Willcox Smith (ll), inscribed with artist's name and title on two old labels affixed to reverse of frame
Oil and charcoal on board
19 x 16 inches
Literature:
Good Housekeeping Magazine, June 1922, cover illustration
Ada M. Skinner and Eleanor L. Skinner, comps. A Very Little Child's Book of Stories, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1923, reissued in 1980 by Children's Classics, illustrated
S. Michael Schnessel, Jessie Willcox Smith, New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Publishers, 1977, no. 81, p. 120, illustrated
Renowned for her idyllic images of childhood, Jessie Wilcox Smith achieved widespread success during the golden age of illustration, illustrating over forty children's books and working for publications such as Century, Collier's Weekly and Scribner's Magazine. Preferring to work with the children of her friends rather than professional models, she portrayed them with keen sensitivity to mood and expression. Briefly pursuing a career as a kindergarten teacher in Ohio, she evidently had a great affinity for children, although she never married and never had children of her own.
Discovering a love of drawing, Smith commenced studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, studying there with Thomas Anshutz, Thomas Eakins and Robert Vonnoh. Her first published illustration appeared in May 1888 in St. Nicholas Magazine, while she was still a student. Graduating the same year, she accepted a position in the advertising department of the Ladies Home Journal. Further studies at Drexel Institute in 1894 with the accomplished illustrator Howard Pyle led to a commission to illustrate Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as lifelong friendship and professional collaboration with classmates Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley.
From 1917 through 1932, Smith illlustrated covers exclusively for Good Housekeeping Magazine. Little Mother appeared on the cover of the June 1922 issue. The painting was reproduced the following year in A Very Little Child's Book of Stories, which was reissued in 1990. Endearing images such as this composition, capturing the quintessential moments of childhood, contributed to Smith's tremendous popularity. S. Michael Schnessel writes, "In her life and in her work, it was the ideal that predominated, and the ideal child is the legacy left us by this remarkable artist." (Michael Schnessel, Jessie Wilcox Smith, 1977, p. 23.)
A Connecticut Estate
Additional Notes & Condition Report
Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Doyle New York shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.
No condition report? Click here to request one.