Jessie Willcox Smith Art for Sale at Auction

Illustrator, Painter, b. 1863 - d. 1935

(b Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1863; d Philadelphia 1935) American illustrator. Jessie Willcox Smith is known for her iconic children's book illustrations. She also illustrated commercially for companies such as Kodak Film. Willcox graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1888 after studying drawing. She then went on to attend the Howard Pyle School of Illustration at the Howard Institute. She illustrated hundreds of magazine covers for Good Housekeeping. Smith went on to illustrate for many other major publications including Harper’s Bazaar and McClure’s magazines. Her most well-known book illustrations include Little Women and Water Babies. Children and childhood were her most common subjects, and she became known for her portraits of children as well.