Jessie W. Smith

Jessie Wilcox Smith was born September 6th, 1863 in Philadelphia. She attended private elementary schools there and at the age of 16 was sent to Cincinnati to live with her cousins where she finished her schooling and began a career as a kindergardern teacher.

She did not have much interest in drawing as a child and she did not display any extra ordinary artistic ability. However, she always found the world of art fascinating and would often visit in the art galleries and study the

In 1905, Smith made twelve full-page color illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic book of poems. The illustrations for this work, “The Land of Counter Pane” stands out as a compositional masterpiece [Colorplate 27]. Smith used foreshortened perspective to give the impression of a faraway city nestled within the confines of the bed sheets. If you carefully examine this illustration, you will notice that the child’s knees have formed a central mountain about which the toy soldiers are marching.

In 1888 Smith graduated from the Academy and the same year her first published illustration entitled Three Little Maidens All in a Row, appeared in the May issue of St. Nicholas Magazine. Her first job was actually with a notions firm called Dreka in Philadelphia and the first art work she sold were place cards with little Japanese figures that she had painted on them.

In 1903 when living at the Red Rose Inn, Smith created a series I=of illustrations for The Book of the Child by Mabel Humphrey. For the book “Smith used colored charcoal and watercolor to portray a serene world of children, toys, and dolls. In one illustration, entitled “On the Hammock,” a young child is seen delicately balanced in a hammock looking quietly down at the infant doll in her lap [Colorplate 20]. The graphic element is strikingly evident in the composition, with the doll’s dress forming a large portion of the picture and giving the entire illustration a posterlike quality. Also noteworthy is the use of the “double contour,” where the figure is outlined with a dark, contrasting border. Smith used this technique to draw attention to a central figure or pattern, and it is one of the most recognizable features of her illustration. (29)

That same year, Smith acquired a piece of land near Cogslea and had a home and art studio built there for herself, which she named Cogshill. There Smith worked hard at illustrati

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