By a Woman's Hand: Illustrators of the Golden Age

by Mary Carolyn Waldrep (Editor)

At the turn of the 20th century, the demand for magazine and book illustrations was at an all-time high, offering women artists unprecedented professional opportunities. This unique anthology features 120 color and black-and-white artworks by 22 of the Golden Age of Illustration's finest female illustrators, including Beatrix Potter, Kate Greenaway, and Jessie Willcox Smith.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2010

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would term Waldrep’s book a survey of this period. It includes a helpful introduction and bibliography. More than 20 artists are represented. Some will be as well-known as Kate Greenaway and Beatrix Potter.


I had only the barest knowledge of how they came to their artistic success. Here are excerpts from a couple of those included:

"One of the most successful illustrators of her time, American artist Elizabeth Shippen Green studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins, Thomas Anshutz, and Robert Vonnoh. She sold her first illustration at age eighteen to the Philadelphia Times, and was working at the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies’ Home Journal when she began her studies with Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute." I was particularly taken by “The Flowers (1910) which pictures a child “sitting in a patch of sunshine.”

Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated several books of fairy stories including: The Now-a-Days Fairy Book (1911) and The Everyday Fairy Book (1915). I enjoyed her style which included “Robin put his head down on his arm and shut his eyes.” “American….. Willcox Smith was destined for a career as a kindergarten teacher when she discovered her artistic talent while chaperoning a friend at an art lesson. In 1884, she entered the School of Design for Women in Philadelphia, concentrating her studies on commercial art. She transferred to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1885, where she studied with Thomas Eakins and Thomas Anschutz."

The text is adequate and the illustrations are well-presented. They show a variety of approaches to illustration over a four-decade period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. Very helpful.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last summer, I went on a reading spree of fairy tale illustrators of the "Golden Age" (roughly 1880s-1930s). Walter Crane and H. J. Ford were some of my favorite discoveries/rediscoveries. I was delighted to find this anthology of female illustrators of the same period, including works later in the 20th century. The books I read last summer each concerned one illustrator, so an anthology was a really fun experience. Some illustrators were familiar to me, like Kate Greenaway, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Beatrix Potter, and Lois Lenski. Others were completely new to me and won my heart, like Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, Elenore Plaisted Abbott, and Virginia Frances Sterret.


"The Library," Elizabeth Shippen Green. While this one isn't in the book, it's my favorite illustration of hers, and represents how I felt paging through this volume.

Many of the illustrations are from fairy tale collections, or books like A Child's Garden of Verses and Alice in Wonderland, and it was delightful to recognize the familiar story moments in unfamiliar illustrations. Lois Lenski's earlier illustrations, from the 1920s, are included in the volume, and they were new to me--I only knew of her black-and-white work in her later books like Strawberry Girl. The trademark Lenski style of portraying limbs (I don't know enough about art to describe it better) is present in these images, and it's fascinating to see her development.

Each illustrator receives a brief biography, and each illustration included has a citation. Full citations are included at the front of the volume, along with a helpful introduction and works cited. The mini biographies leave a lot to be desired. Some of them aren't even great starting points for studying the illustrator, with some biographical errors. Most of the illustrations are presented in full color. Not all of them have the most amazing resolution, but the quality is wonderfully clear overall and faithfully represents how they would have appeared in their original printings. Recommended to fans of children's book illustration and female illustrators.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Argh, I was very excited about reading this book, but in the paragraph about Beatrix Potter she states "An only child, Beatrix Potter..." and of course Beatrix Potter was NOT an only child, so from then on I couldn't trust anything, and mostly just enjoyed the beautiful pictures.

[a ☕︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

very beautiful sampling of golden age artists—some tend towards the minimalistic, others are very rich in their portrayals. subject matter includes alice through the looking glass, hans christian andersen, and other european fairy tales. below is elenore plaisted abbott’s the shoes that were danced to pieces, from the twelve dancing princesses. other favorites were virginia frances sterrett (who illustrated that comtesse de ségur collection), blanche fisher wright (mother goose, specialized in kindly old washerwomen and bewildered moon faces), margaret evans price (a very spartan style, her beauty dresses in medieval gowns but nibbles on cherry ice shaves), jessie marion king (interestingly illustrated oscar wilde’s house of pomegranates), and elizabeth shippen green (some romantic beauties for harper’s magazine in 1900s).

[el ✯ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3) read this as part of my a-levels studies in art and design. As pointed out, some information is false, but it was cool for collecting artists and styles.

[Telyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely delightful anthology of artwork by a cross section of late 19th-early 20th century women illustrators, including Kate Greenway, Florence Harrison, Beatrix Potter, Elizabeth Shipman Green, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Jessie Marion King, Eleanore Plaisted Abbott, Ida Rentoul Outhwaith, Margaret Tarrant and a dozen more. The only text is a short introduction, but there are plenty of color and black and white plates and a bibliography to encourage further exploration. This is one of the recent generation Dover art books with improved color printing, so the plates are beautiful and bright. Recommended for anyone with an interest in golden age illustration.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic review of a set time in illustration history covering Victorian and later art, done by woman artists. The pictures are lush, the history of each artist is well developed, and over all, the book was enjoyable.

[Milliot Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book. The illustrators are wonderful (Jessie Willcox Smith, Ruth Mary Hallock, Fern Bisel Peat etc...). A page of presentation and some full page illustrations for each. The only problem is that I now yearn for several of the books they have illustrated !

[Kay Robart · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015...

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat disappointing, only 1/3 of a page of text about each illustrator and many of the reproductions of their illustrations were somewhat substandard.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I obviously have more room in my life for yet another obsession.

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. The whimsy. Oh my god the whimsy.

This book actually had several women illustrators I had never heard of before. The biographical snippets were interesting and just enough to whet my appetite to learn more about these creative ladies. Several of the artists are right up my alley. I don't know a lot about art, but I know what I like, and several of the art styles called to me.

If you love reading, fairytales, or just successful females, this book is for you!

[Seema Rao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of these illustrators are near forgotten with very few of their books in circulation in libraries. This anthology keeps their images in circulation.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 for incorrectly stating Beatrix Potter was an only child. What other information in the book is wrong? The artwork, however, was incredible.

[C T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos and brought me great awareness to these great illustrators but the text research quality is shallow. A great brief primer for casual reading. Enjoyed it.

[Janay Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and very informative!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a beautiful book, and a walk through the book illustrations of my childhood. I'm sure it's not comprehensive, but I was deeply surprised at how many images I knew, without knowing the artist.

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides very brief biological sketches of major female illustrators from the early 1900s, along with marvelous colorplates representing their work. The artwork was amazing, but the bios were disappointingly very brief.