Jessie Willcox Smith (1863 – 1935)

Jessie Willcox Smith (1863 – 1935); Little Jack Horner; 1914; oil and charcoal on board. © 2024 National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI www.americanillustration.org and the American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY, www.americanillustrators.com

Jessie Willcox Smith (1863 – 1935) was one of the most prolific illustrators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, creating art for books, postcards, and hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She is known for her tender depictions of adolescence and for showcasing the relationship between mothers and their children. She brought famed stories to life through her illustrations, including Mother Goose tales and the illustrated version of Little Women by novelist Louisa May Alcott. She used different mediums like oil, watercolor, and pastels and stylistic motifs like soft outlines and impressionistic use of color.

Smith was born in 1863 and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was schooled in Philadelphia but eventually moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to finish her education and to study to become a kindergarten teacher. While there, she roomed with an artist who saw her early talent and convinced her to go to art school. She went back home and attended the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Drexel Institute, where she honed her skills in illustration and portraiture.

Smith was a member of the Red Rose Girls artist group, along with fellow illustrator Elizabeth Shippen Green (1871–1954) and muralist Violet Oakley (1874–1961). The three women met at the Drexel Institute in painter Howard Pyle’s (1853–1911) class, who recognized their creative abilities and helped secure their first commissions. The women eventually moved into the Red Rose Inn together, earning them their name. They shared studio space and lived and worked together as their careers flourished.