Skip to main content

Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

American, 1863-1935
But success as an illustrator wasn't immediate. She got a job in the production department of The Ladies Home Journal in 1889 and was still working there five years later when Howard Pyle began teaching illustration at Drexel Institute of Arts and Sciences. Smith was accepted as a pupil in his first class. At 31, she was only 10 years younger than her teacher and one of his oldest students. Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley soon joined her in the class, and the three became lifelong friends. Smith's first commission through Pyle was for an 1897 edition of Evangeline that she illustrated with Oakley. The two joined another Pyle student to rent a studio, and Green later joined them there. In 1901, the three shared the lease on an old inn outside of Philadelphia. That's the same year as the illustration above from "The Last of the Fairy Wands" in the December issue of Scribners Magazine. She produced two calendars with Green for 1902 that helped establish the careers of both women. The most important was "The Child," which showcased some of her most sensitive renditions of children to date. The images were collected into a book the following year. One of Smith's three images from that book is above at right. The magazines and books of the day voraciously consumed as much color work as possible. Pyle's students were some of the best-prepared new entrants into the illustration market, and Pyle's name gave them access to the magazines' pages.
to
7
3
4
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
14
5
3
7
4
3
9
6
5
4
4
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
11
7
5
5
5
51
963
477
359
282
13
14
Artist: Jessie Willcox Smith
"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room
"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room

"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Story illustration for the book In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett, published by McClure, Phillips & Co., New York, 1904. The published caption reads: "I'm going to play ...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pen

Pair of Illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses
Pair of Illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses

Pair of Illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Two illustrations from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (New York: Scribner's, 1905), for III: "To Auntie", Page 116 Two charming line illustrations by Smith from...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pencil

Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Mixed Media on Paperboard Signature: Unsigned This piece was an advertisement for Lowney's Crest Chocolates. Edward Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith expert and biographer describes Merry Christmas: Two Children Before the Fireplace, “A wonderful mixed media painting by Jessie Willcox Smith, published as an advertisement for Lowney's Crest Chocolates, reminiscent of her paintings for Twas the Night...

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Board

Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf

Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right Contact for exact dimensions. Inscribed Signed for-/Thomas Oakley/CHRISTMAS-1919 (lower right) - Charles Kingsle...

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Mother and Child,  Golden Age of Illustration
Mother and Child,  Golden Age of Illustration

Mother and Child, Golden Age of Illustration

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Miami, FL

America's greatest female illustrator draws a heartwarming picture of a mother putting to bed her child. Motherly love towards their children is the artist's most iconic theme. This ...

Category

Early 1900s Art Nouveau Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Illustration Board, Pen

As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing
As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing

As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Illustration for “Kitchen Sketches” by Elizabeth Hale Gilman for Scribner’s, published May 1903. Rendered in charcoal with accents of pastel orange and yellow, the illustrations fo...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

Boy with Pull Toy
Boy with Pull Toy

Boy with Pull Toy

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Pen and Ink on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right Line drawing illustration from Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" (New York: Scribner's, 1905). A char...

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

The Pink Bonnet
The Pink Bonnet

The Pink Bonnet

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Date: 1907 Medium: Mixed Media on Board Dimensions: 18.25" x 15.25" Signature: Signed Lower Right Provenance- From the Helen Hay Whitney estate (the author of The Bed-Time Book for ...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Portrait of Seated Girl
Portrait of Seated Girl

Portrait of Seated Girl

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Charcoal on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf
Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf

Water Babies- Sitting on a Leaf

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right Contact for exact dimensions. LITERATURE: Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated Edwar...

Category

1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Watercolor

"Where nothing was seen but the Quaker gown."
"Where nothing was seen but the Quaker gown."

"Where nothing was seen but the Quaker gown."

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Story illustration for Reminiscences of The Old Chest of Drawers by Sarah Cauffman Sill (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1900), page 10 Medium: Charcoal on Paper Signature: Signed Lo...

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Water Babies Illustration- Tadpoles
Water Babies Illustration- Tadpoles

Water Babies Illustration- Tadpoles

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right Contact for exact dimensions. Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated Edward D. Nudelman,...

Category

1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Exhibition Announcement
Exhibition Announcement

Exhibition Announcement

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Signature: Signed with the Artist's Initials J.W.S. (Lower Right) Medium: Ink and Gouache on Paperboard

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Gouache, Board

Pease-Porridge Hot, Pease-Porridge Cold

Pease-Porridge Hot, Pease-Porridge Cold

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Mixed Media on Paperboard Signature: Signed Lower Right This mixed media art by Jesssie Willcox Smith, entitled “Pease-Porridge Hot, Pease-Porridge Cold,” was executed in 19...

Category

1910s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Board

Related Items
Mughal School, 18th Century Emperor Jahangir with Empress Nur Jahan
Mughal School, 18th Century Emperor Jahangir with Empress Nur Jahan

Mughal School, 18th Century Emperor Jahangir with Empress Nur Jahan

Located in Middletown, NY

Emperor Jahangir and Empress Nur Jahan exchanging lotus blossoms; a symbol of beauty, purity, honesty, rebirth, self-regeneration, and enlightenment....

Category

18th Century Rajput Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gold

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Providenza
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Providenza

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Providenza

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

'Providenza' Italian School, 18th century ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass) image size: 10.5 x 7 inches overall framed: 17 x 13 inche...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Expressive Figurative Ink and Ballpoint Pen Drawing on Paper, Signed, 1991
Expressive Figurative Ink and Ballpoint Pen Drawing on Paper, Signed, 1991

Expressive Figurative Ink and Ballpoint Pen Drawing on Paper, Signed, 1991

By Menachem Gueffen

Located in NANTES, FR

This 1991 drawing presents a female figure rendered with unusual freedom and urgency, built from layered contour lines, looping marks, and repeated adjustments in black ink and ballp...

Category

1990s Expressionist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Ballpoint Pen

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Napoli
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Napoli

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Napoli

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

'Napoli' Italian School, 18th century ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass) image size: 10.5 x 7 inches overall framed: 17 x 13 inches co...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Jonas Wood 24 Tennis Court Drawings monograph (hand signed, inscribed and dated)
Jonas Wood 24 Tennis Court Drawings monograph (hand signed, inscribed and dated)

Jonas Wood 24 Tennis Court Drawings monograph (hand signed, inscribed and dated)

By Jonas Wood

Located in New York, NY

Jonas Wood 24 Tennis Court Drawings book (hand signed, inscribed to Kevin and dated by the artist) Hardback monograph (signed, inscribed and dated 2003) 13 1/2 × 9 1/4 × 2/5 inches M...

Category

2010s Contemporary Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board, Permanent Marker, Lithograph, Offset

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical India
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical India

Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical India

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

'India' Italian School, 18th century ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass) image size: 10.5 x 7 inches overall framed: 17 x 13 inches con...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Serenity, On The Beach - Modern Figurative Nature and Landscape Drawing
Serenity, On The Beach - Modern Figurative Nature and Landscape Drawing

Serenity, On The Beach - Modern Figurative Nature and Landscape Drawing

By Hanna Banaszczyk

Located in Hallein, AT

The artwork is in simple wood frames behind glass. The full signature is on the back of the drawing. Hanna Banaszczyk is a graduate of the Faculty of Painting and Drawing at the Un...

Category

2010s Contemporary Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pencil

Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s
Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s

Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s

By Ray Swanson

Located in San Francisco, CA

Ray Swanson (1937-2004) "Native American" Original Pen & Ink c.1960s Fine portrait of a Native American Indian by listed Western artist Ray Swanson. Dime...

Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Pen

Two American Old Western Watercolor Painting Ink & Pencil Drawings Cowboy Horses
Two American Old Western Watercolor Painting Ink & Pencil Drawings Cowboy Horses

Two American Old Western Watercolor Painting Ink & Pencil Drawings Cowboy Horses

By Edward (John Edward) Borein

Located in Portland, OR

Two rare, early, original artworks by American Southwest artist, John Edward Borein (1873–1945). A watercolor painting of a mounted cowboy or vaquero, the other of a vaquero driving ...

Category

1890s American Realist Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pen, Pencil, Paper

Under the Archways, Streets of Jerusalem
Under the Archways, Streets of Jerusalem

Under the Archways, Streets of Jerusalem

Located in Surfside, FL

Judaica watercolor depicting the streets of Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine.

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

RCA Design Art Deco Streamline Mid Century Modern American Scene Architectural
RCA Design Art Deco Streamline Mid Century Modern American Scene Architectural

RCA Design Art Deco Streamline Mid Century Modern American Scene Architectural

By John Vassos

Located in New York, NY

RCA Design Art Deco Streamline Mid Century Modern American Scene Architectural John Vassos (1898-1985) RCA 50 D Transmitter and Control Desk 12 x 19 1/2 (sight) Mixed media on boar...

Category

1930s Art Deco Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Previously Available Items
"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room
"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room

"I'm going to play with the little girl, mother" for the book In the Closed Room

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Story illustration for the book In the Closed Room by Frances Hodgson Burnett, published by McClure, Phillips & Co., New York, 1904. The published caption reads: "I'm going to play ...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pen

Water Babies Illustration
Water Babies Illustration

Water Babies Illustration

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Ink and Watercolor on Paper Signature: Signed Lower Right Contact for exact dimensions. Literature: Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, New York, 1916, illustrated Edwar...

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

A Rose by Any Other Name
A Rose by Any Other Name

A Rose by Any Other Name

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Mixed Media on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Good Housekeeping, June 1924, illustrated in color on the cover Edward D. Nudelman, Jessie Willcox Smith: A Bibliography,...

Category

1920s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Three School Children
Three School Children

Three School Children

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Pen and Ink on Board Signature: Initialed Lower Right

Category

20th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Board, Pen

Children Playing in the Snow
Children Playing in the Snow

Children Playing in the Snow

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Date: 1931 Medium: Mixed Media on Board Dimensions: 20.00" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Inscribed verso: For Tille Anne who would be a perfect model for her / Mothers friend / Jessie Wilcox Smith...

Category

1930s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

Season Greeting
Season Greeting

Season Greeting

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Medium: Ink, Paint and Gold Leaf on Paper Dimensions: 11.75" x 8.50" Signature: Unsigned

Category

Late 19th Century Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

Young Woman Gazing
Young Woman Gazing

Young Woman Gazing

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Approximate Date: 1900 Medium: Charcoal and Wash Signature: Signed Lower Left Dimensions: 15.00" x 9.75" Story Illustration "The Emigrant East", by...

Category

Early 1900s Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

Man Kneeling to Woman in Flounced Dress

Man Kneeling to Woman in Flounced Dress

By Jessie Willcox Smith

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Approximate Date: 1926 Medium: Charcoal, Watercolor and Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 25.75" x 16.00" Men Kneeling to woman in flounced dress. Illustration from Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott...

Category

1920s American Modern Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Board, Charcoal, Oil, Watercolor

Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Jessie Willcox Smith in board, mixed media, charcoal and more. Not every interior allows for large Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Frank Wilcox, Grace G. Drayton, and Abraham Walkowitz. Jessie Willcox Smith drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $22,000 and tops out at $265,000, while the average work can sell for $115,000.
Questions About Jessie Willcox Smith Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
  • 1stDibs ExpertJanuary 10, 2025
    The most famous book that Jessie Willcox Smith illustrated is arguably Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. However, the American artist also produced illustrations for numerous other books. Among them were A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, The Seven Ages of Childhood by Carolyn Wells, The Rhymes of Real Children by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and An Old-Fashioned Girl, also by Louisa May Alcott. Explore a range of Jessie Willcox Smith art on 1stDibs.