The Red Rose Girls: Jessie Excels

"Summer's Passing" by Jessie Willcox Smith

"Hailed as America's Kate Greenaway, there was a constant demand for Jessie Willcox Smith's work. The comparison with Greenaway, the English illustrator whose charming images of impeccable children adorned British children's books at the end of the nineteenth century, pleased her. She never expressed any regret about her choice of subject matter nor seemed to feel that children's book illustration was any less important than the allegorical murals that Violet Oakley constructed. Nor did she make any self-deprecating remarks about the sentimental nature of her paintings.

Despite her great financial success, Smith's work was drive by conviction, not by money. Although her even temper and noticeable lack of the sort of artistic zeal that drove Violet occasionally caused her to mention that perhaps she was not a 'real' artist, she was dedicated to her profession and continued to work prodigiously even though it had been many years since there had been any pressing financial need. Her illustrations were tremendously popular, but a friend once wrote, 'Only a few know that they represent - a steady devotion to work - a continuous effort, generously and unselfishly poured out that others may rejoice and be glad.'

After returning from a trip to England, Smith illustrated two critically acclaimed books in quick succession: 'Dream Blocks,' published in 1908, and 'The Seven Ages of Childhood,' published in 1909. Between them, the two books had twenty-three full-page color illustrations. She was also busy with magazine illustrations for 'Collier's,' 'Ladies' Home Journal,' 'McClure's Magazine,' and 'Woman's Home Companion.'

In 1907 the New York Society of Illustrators, recognizing the excellence of women in the field, elected their first five female members. Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley joined Florence Schovel Shinn and May Wilson in the select group."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Red Rose Girls: Art and Love on Philadelphia's Main Line" by Alice A. Carter.)