Wuanita Smith (January 1, 1866 – February 18, 1959) was an American painter, printmaker, and illustrator of children's books.[1][2] Her work is held in the National Gallery of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Illustration from Oh, Virginia! (1920)

Biography

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Smith was born in Philadelphia on January 1, 1866, and was the daughter of an oil refinery operator.[3][4] After finishing grammar school, Smith attended and graduated from the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. In 1887, she worked her first job as a jewelry designer.[4]

Smith later attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Drexel Institute.[4] She studied with Howard Pyle, Hugh Breckenridge, Ralph Pearson and exhibited at Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry along with other female artists.[5][3] She belonged to The Plastic Club, an arts organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her aquatint picture Approaching Storm is at the National Gallery of Art.[6] Her woodcut print Skating is part of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art collection.[7]

She died on February 18, 1959, in Philadelphia, at the age of 94.[4]

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Bibliography

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  • The Four Corners Abroad by Amy Ella Blanchard, part of the Four Corners series, illustrated by Wuanita Smith (G.W. Jacobs, 1909)
  • At least three books from the Admiral's Granddaughter Series by Elizabeth Lincoln Gould
    • The Admiral's Granddaughter (1907), illustrated by Wuanita Smith
    • The Admiral's Little Housekeeper (1910), illustrated by Wuanita Smith, about the Beaumont family Christmas
    • The Admiral's Little Secretary (1911), illustrated by Wuanita Smith
  • The Little Runaways At Home (1912) by Alice Turner Curtis
  • A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony (1915)
  • Oh, Virginia! (1920) by Helen Sherman Griffith[8]
  • Brothers Grimm and other stories (1922)[9]
  • Grandpa's Little Girls and Their Friends (1925) by Alice Turner Curtis

References

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  1. ^ "Wuanita Smith Biography | Annex Galleries Fine Prints". www.annexgalleries.com.
  2. ^ "Nantucket Art Colony". www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.com.
  3. ^ a b "Wuanita Smith Slugged by Thief". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 16 November 1938. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Wuanita Smith Dies at 94". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 19 February 1959. p. 12. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  5. ^ May, Jill P.; May, Robert E.; Pyle, Howard (May 16, 2011). Howard Pyle: Imagining an American School of Art. University of Illinois Press. p. 81. ISBN 9780252036262 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Artist Info". www.nga.gov.
  7. ^ "Skating". art.nelson-atkins.org.
  8. ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entries: Books. Part, group 1". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. May 16, 1912. p. 650.
  9. ^ Levi, Corwin; Aldredge, Michelle; Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (May 16, 2018). Mirror Mirrored: A Contemporary Artists' Edition of 25 Grimms' Tales. Uzzlepye Press. p. 358. ISBN 9780982517611 – via Google Books.