Jessie Willcox Smith (American, 1863-1935). School Days, Good Housekeeping magazine cover, October 1922. Mixed media on ...

Description

Jessie Willcox Smith (American, 1863-1935)
School Days, Good Housekeeping magazine cover, October 1922
Mixed media on paper laid on board
17-1/2 x 16 inches (44.5 x 40.6 cm)
Signed lower right: Jessie Willcox Smith
Inscribed on the reverse: The Young Scholar

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, acquired circa 1928;
By descent to the present owner.

LITERATURE:
E.D. Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith: A Bibliography, Gretna, Louisiana, 1989, p. 147.

Jessie Willcox Smith was a renowned American illustrator, particularly celebrated for her work in children's literature and magazine covers. She gained widespread recognition for her charming and nostalgic depictions of childhood, motherhood, and domestic life. Her illustrations for Good Housekeeping magazine, where she was the exclusive cover artist between 1917 and 1933, became iconic representations of family warmth and tenderness. Smith's soft color palettes and gentle, detailed style captured the innocence and simplicity of everyday moments, making her artwork deeply resonant with the magazine's readership. Her covers remain some of the most cherished in early 20th-century American illustration.

School Days reflects the artist's signature style of capturing the innocence and beauty of childhood. In this piece, Smith portrays the tender, contemplative moments of children, often focused on their experiences of growth, learning, and imagination. The scene captures the quiet, clumsy first moments of learning letters at school with a rounded child with wild hair and rosy cheeks. The mixed media technique gives texture to the scene, particularly the sweater, but also a sense of haziness -- like a memory or dream. The softness of Smith's lines, combined with her use of warm, muted colors, evokes a sense of nostalgia and simplicity, reminiscent of early childhood education and the emotional significance of those formative years.

We thank Edward D. Nudelman for his cataloguing assistance.


More information about Jessie Willcox Smith. See also: Smith, Jessie Willcox Artist.

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