30/04/2016
Deze is toch geweldig? Je krijgt onmiddellijk zin om met een boekje in een hoekje te kruipen
Jessie Willcox Smith was one of the most prominent female illustrators in the United States during the Golden Age of American illustration. She was a prolific contributor to respected books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She illustrated stories and articles for clients such as Century, Collier's Weekly, Leslie's Weekly, Harper's, McClure's, Scribners, and the Ladies' Home Journal.
Smith's style changed drastically through her life. In the beginning of her career she used dark lined borders to delineate brightly coloured objects and people. In later works she softened the lines and colours until they almost disappeared. Smith worked in mixed media: oil, pastels, charcoal, whatever she felt gave her desired effect. She often overlaid oils on charcoal, on a paper whose grain or texture added an important element to the work. Her use of colour was influenced by the French impressionist painters.
Most of Smith's work is primarily concerned with children and motherly love. Many reviewers say Smith was continually trying to recreate the image of love she had desperately needed as a child. Smith preferred to use real children as opposed to child actors, because she found professional children did not have the same soul, or will to explore, as amateur child models. She would invite her friends to visit, and watch their children play, to use that as her inspiration.
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All images in this album will be ordered chronologically.