Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
American, 1863-1935
But success as an illustrator wasn't immediate. She got a job in the production department of The Ladies Home Journal in 1889 and was still working there five years later when Howard Pyle began teaching illustration at Drexel Institute of Arts and Sciences. Smith was accepted as a pupil in his first class. At 31, she was only 10 years younger than her teacher and one of his oldest students. Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley soon joined her in the class, and the three became lifelong friends. Smith's first commission through Pyle was for an 1897 edition of Evangeline that she illustrated with Oakley. The two joined another Pyle student to rent a studio, and Green later joined them there. In 1901, the three shared the lease on an old inn outside of Philadelphia. That's the same year as the illustration above from "The Last of the Fairy Wands" in the December issue of Scribners Magazine. She produced two calendars with Green for 1902 that helped establish the careers of both women. The most important was "The Child," which showcased some of her most sensitive renditions of children to date. The images were collected into a book the following year. One of Smith's three images from that book is above at right. The magazines and books of the day voraciously consumed as much color work as possible. Pyle's students were some of the best-prepared new entrants into the illustration market, and Pyle's name gave them access to the magazines' pages.to
8
3
3
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
14
5
3
7
4
3
9
6
5
4
4
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10
7
6
5
4
46
932
406
282
279
13
14
Artist: Jessie Willcox Smith
Merry Christmas
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Mixed Media on Paperboard
Signature: Unsigned
This piece was an advertisement for Lowney's Crest Chocolates. Edward Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith expert and biographer describes Merry Christmas: Two Children Before the Fireplace, “A wonderful mixed media painting by Jessie Willcox Smith, published as an advertisement for Lowney's Crest Chocolates, reminiscent of her paintings for Twas the Night...
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media, Board
Mother and Child, Golden Age of Illustration
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Miami, FL
America's greatest female illustrator draws a heartwarming picture of a mother putting to bed her child. Motherly love towards their children is the artist's most iconic theme. This ...
Category
Early 1900s Art Nouveau Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Illustration Board, Pen
As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1903
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Sight Size 24.25" x 15.50", Framed 31.35" x 22.50"
Signature: Signed Lower Left
Scribner's Magazine story illustration, November 1911, 1903
...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media
Pair of Illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pencil
Rhymes of Real Children
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1903
Medium: Mixed Media on Board
Sight Size 18.00" x 15.75", Framed 24.50" x 22.25"
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Betty Sage, Rhymes of Real Children, New York, 1903, illustr...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
Boy with Pull Toy
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Pen and Ink on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Line drawing illustration from Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" (New York: Scribner's, 1905).
A char...
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pen
The Pink Bonnet
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1907
Medium: Mixed Media on Board
Dimensions: 18.25" x 15.25"
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Provenance- From the Helen Hay Whitney estate (the author of The Bed-Time Book for ...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
Portrait of Seated Girl
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Charcoal on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Contact for exact dimensions.
Inscribed Signed for-/Thomas Oakley/CHRISTMAS-1919 (lower right)
-
Charles Kingsle...
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Contact for exact dimensions.
LITERATURE:
Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated
Edwar...
Category
1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Water Babies Illustration- Tadpoles
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Contact for exact dimensions.
Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated
Edward D. Nudelman,...
Category
1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
"Where nothing was seen but the Quaker gown."
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for Reminiscences of The Old Chest of Drawers by Sarah Cauffman Sill (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1900), page 10
Medium: Charcoal on Paper
Signature: Signed Lo...
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Charcoal
Exhibition Announcement
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed with the Artist's Initials J.W.S. (Lower Right)
Medium: Ink and Gouache on Paperboard
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Gouache, Board
Pease-Porridge Hot, Pease-Porridge Cold
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Mixed Media on Paperboard
Signature: Signed Lower Right
This mixed media art by Jesssie Willcox Smith, entitled “Pease-Porridge Hot, Pease-Porridge Cold,” was executed in 19...
Category
1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Mixed Media, Board
Price Upon Request
Related Items
Al Hirschfeld "Beat the Band" New York Times Broadway Theatre Illustration 1940s
By Albert Al Hirschfeld
Located in New York, NY
Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003)
"Beat the Band"
22 x 26 1/2 inches
ink on board
published in The New York Times, October 11, 1942
The unframed work comes directly from the Al Hirschfeld F...
Category
1940s American Realist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Board
Mythological combat scene with Roman soldiers on horseback.
By Virgil Solis
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and brownish black ink on grayish-cream laid paper, 6 1/2 x 8 inches (165 x 175 mm), irregular hexagonal sheet with margins. Some archival repairs along the top sheet edge, scatt...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Laid Paper, Pen
Drawing, Oil Bar, Ink And Colored Pencils. "The Gifts of Patience"
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Oil bar, Pencil, Petal Flowers, Color and Ink on Paper.
The base of this drawing is 120g/m2 Fabriano paper. I use natural dyes from flowers, herbs, leaves, and tree bark as the firs...
Category
2010s Contemporary Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pencil, Color Pencil
Drawing, Pastel, Ink And Colored Pencils. "Free Spirits"
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Pastel, Pencil, petal flowers, Color and Ink on Paper.
The base of this drawing is Fabriano paper of 120g /m2. I use natural dyes of flowers, herbs, leaves, bark of trees as the fir...
Category
2010s Expressionist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Pencil, Color Pencil
Sailor
By Andy Warhol
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is the most influential and valuable American artist of the 20th century. Caviar20 has been championig his inimitable works on paper from the 1950s. We believ...
Category
1950s Pop Art Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Graphite
Contemporary Drawing "Blue Prayer" Draw, Pastel, Ink And Colored Pencils
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Drawing, pastel, Pencil, Petal Flowers, Color and Ink on Paper.
The base of this drawing is ordinary yellow paper of 80 gr. I use natural dyes from flowers, herbs, leaves, and tree ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Pencil, Color Pencil
Freddy Wittop Ballet Drawing, Mixed Media
By Freddy Wittop
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Artist/Designer; Manufacturer: Freddy Wittop (1911-2001)
Marking(s); notes: signed, marking(s)
Country of origin; materials: Dutch/American; mixed media on illustration board
Dimensi...
Category
Mid-20th Century Feminist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paint, Mixed Media, Board
African Mama - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor
By Irene Pattinson
Located in Soquel, CA
African Mama - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor
A charming illustration, by Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999), shows a woman with a...
Category
1950s American Modern Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, India Ink, Watercolor, Pen
$636 Sale Price
20% Off
H 13 in W 10 in D 0.25 in
Vintage Israeli Bezalel School Drawing Family Playing, Dogs Puppies Kibbutz Life
By Moshe Avni
Located in Surfside, FL
Moshe Avni was born in 1937, in Kibbutz Kfar Blum in the Upper Galilee in Israel. Presently, he lives and paints in Jerusalem. During the years 1956-1957, he studied Painting and Gra...
Category
1960s Modern Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pen
Drawing, Acrylic, Ink And Colored Pencils On Paper. "Old love, new love"
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
“Old love, new love” Drawing, acrylic, ink and colored pencils on paper. I developed a drawing technique based on natural pigments from leaves, flowers and bark with which I intend t...
Category
2010s Expressionist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Acrylic, Pencil, Color Pencil
Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s
By Ray Swanson
Located in San Francisco, CA
Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s
Fine portrait of a Native American Indian by listed Western artist Ray Swanson.
Dime...
Category
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Pen
$1,000
H 14 in W 12 in D 2 in
"Evocation" Drawing, Ink and Colored Pencils
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Pencil, Petal Flowers, Color and Ink on Paper. The base of this drawing is 120g/m2 Fabriano paper. I use natural dyes from flowers, herbs, leaves, and tree bark as the first drawing ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pencil, Color Pencil
$230
H 8.27 in W 5.52 in
Previously Available Items
"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for the book In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett, published by McClure, Phillips & Co., New York, 1904.
The published caption reads: "I'm going to play ...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pen
Water Babies Illustration
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Contact for exact dimensions.
Literature:
Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated
Edwar...
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
A Rose by Any Other Name
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Mixed Media on Board
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Good Housekeeping, June 1924, illustrated in color on the cover
Edward D. Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith: A Bibliography,...
Category
1920s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
Three School Children
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Pen and Ink on Board
Signature: Initialed Lower Right
Category
20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Board, Pen
Children Playing in the Snow
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1931
Medium: Mixed Media on Board
Dimensions: 20.00" x 16.00"
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Inscribed verso: For Tille Anne who would be a perfect model for her / Mothers friend / Jessie Wilcox Smith...
Category
1930s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
Season Greeting
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Ink, Paint and Gold Leaf on Paper
Dimensions: 11.75" x 8.50"
Signature: Unsigned
Category
Late 19th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Gold Leaf
Young Woman Gazing
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Approximate Date: 1900
Medium: Charcoal and Wash
Signature: Signed Lower Left
Dimensions: 15.00" x 9.75"
Story Illustration "The Emigrant East", by...
Category
Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Charcoal
Man Kneeling to Woman in Flounced Dress
By Jessie Willcox Smith
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Approximate Date: 1926
Medium: Charcoal, Watercolor and Oil on Board
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Size: 25.75" x 16.00"
Men Kneeling to woman in flounced dress. Illustration from Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott...
Category
1920s American Modern Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Board, Charcoal, Oil, Watercolor
Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Jessie Willcox Smith in board, mixed media, charcoal and more. Not every interior allows for large Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Frank Wilcox, Grace G. Drayton, and Abraham Walkowitz. Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $22,000 and tops out at $265,000, while the average work can sell for $115,000.
Artists Similar to Jessie Willcox Smith
Questions About Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
- 1stDibs ExpertJanuary 10, 2025The most famous book that Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated is arguably Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. However, the American artist also produced illustrations for numerous other books. Among them were A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, The Seven Ages of Childhood by Carolyn Wells, The Rhymes of Real Children by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and An Old-Fashioned Girl, also by Louisa May Alcott. Explore a range of Jessie Willcox Smith art on 1stDibs.