Rose Cecil O'Neill (American, 1874-1944). At the Country Club, Puck magazine interior, 1898. India ink on heavyweight pa...

Description

Rose Cecil O'Neill (American, 1874-1944)
At the Country Club, Puck magazine interior, 1898
India ink on heavyweight paper
19 x 21-1/4 inches (48.3 x 54.0 cm) (image)
Signed lower left: O'Neill Latham

Rose O'Neill was the most successful female American cartoonist of the first half of the 20th century. After placing her artwork in local publications in Omaha, Nebraska, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in art, illustration and writing. She joined the staff of Puck magazine, and her work first began to appear in its pages in 1898. She created cover and interior illustrations for Puck through 1905. This original titled "At the Country Club" was published in the September 14, 1898 issue of Puck. Superbly depicting upper class New Yorkers at the turn of the century, it is captioned:

"He:-Dr. Young has made an important discovery.
She:-Goodness! What is it?
He:-He has found out that if he stays in this town he'll starve to death; so he's going to try his luck elsewhere."

Rose O'Neill is famous for her creation of The Kewpies, the cherubic characters who debuted in a 1909 issue of Ladies Home Journal and appeared in illustration and comics form. In 1912 the German manufacturer Kestner & Company began the production of Kewpie dolls, and in following years characters were licensed for merchandise of all kinds. With the success of The Kewpies Ms. O''Neill became the highest-paid female cartoonist and illustrator in America. The Kewpies began to appear in a newspaper Sunday page circa 1917 in the Hearst newspapers, and it was syndicated nationwide into the 1930s. Her work appeared in leading American magazines-Harper's Bazaar, Life, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan-and books.

This work is signed O'Neill Latham, the artist's married name until 1901 when she and Gray Latham divorced. Publisher's stamp and dated handwritten notation appear on the back.


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