Period of American Illustration

Before publishers could reproduce photographs in books and magazines, artists painted the pictures that accompanied literary text. Publishers recreated the paintings as prints—usually engravings or lithographs—and reproduced them within popular stories. In this time before television and radio, published illustrations were extremely influential and popular in America, and illustrators were highly regarded within this lucrative section of the publishing industry. In the last decades of the 1800s, many American art schools developed specialized programs to train graphic artists and illustrators. Howard Pyle (1853–1911), often called the father of American illustration, opened the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1900, where he and the faculty trained many noted illustrators of the first three decades of the twentieth century, including N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945), Frank Schoonover (1877–1972), and Violet Oakley (1874–1961). Pyle’s influence on American art, named the Brandywine school, fostered a lasting regional tradition in American realism.

American illustration offered more professional opportunities to women than did the world of fine art. Alice Barber Stephens was a successful early member of this profession after training at the Philadelphia College of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Thomas Eakins (1844–1916). Stephens was a regular contributor to Harper’s and other popular magazines. She illustrated works for authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

CONCERT AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS

ALICE BARBER STEPHENS (1858–1932)
1891
OIL ON CANVAS
SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.460

Howard Pyle was a Wilmington, Delaware, illustrator, author, and art instructor who painted this picture to illustrate a story called “Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker” by S. Weir Mitchell; the story appeared in the January 1897 edition of Century Magazine. In these scenes, the story’s protagonist, Hugh Wynne, is starting a bar room brawl. Although the artist created many memorable, Colonial-period illustrations, he was probably best known for his depictions of pirates and medieval Europe.

THERE WAS INSTANT SILENCE

HOWARD PYLE (1853–1911)
1896 AND 1897 RESPECTIVELY
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SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.480–.481

N. C. Wyeth was one of Howard Pyle’s (1853–1911) best-known students. The Massachusetts native remained in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, upon completion of his academic training, where, along with his wife, Carolyn (1908-1945), nurtured one of America’s preeminent families of artists in the twentieth century. These included their son Andrew Wyeth, daughters Carolyn and Anne Wyeth, grandson Jamie Wyeth, and sons-in-law Peter Hurd and John McCoy. The Wyeth family heavily influenced and even mentored several generations of artists in northern Delaware and southeast Pennsylvania, thus further perpetuating the Brandywine School’s influence of Howard Pyle.

ILLUSTRATION FOR TITLE PAGE OF THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

NEWELL CONVERS WYETH (1882–1945)
1919
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SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.489

A contemporary of N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) and a student of Howard Pyle (1853–1911), Frank Schoonover was among the nation’s most prolific illustration artists. Like Pyle, Schoonover established a studio in Delaware and taught art. Schoonover also followed Pyle’s advice and travelled extensively to record first-hand the subjects of his well-known illustrations of pirates, indigenous populations, and colonial personalities.

THE PIRATE

FRANK E. SCHOONOVER (1877–1972)
1911
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SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.411

As another famed student of Howard Pyle (1853–1911), Stanley Arthurs assumed Pyle’s studio in Wilmington upon the instructor’s death in Italy. Arthurs is best remembered for his scenes of American colonial history and his long career in illustration, which included providing artwork for such publications as Collier’s Weekly, Saturday Evening Post, and The Ladies’ Home Journal. Arthurs also taught painting and was a muralist.

CAPTAIN BARRY ORDERED THEM TO HAUL DOWN THEIR COLORS, WHICH, NOT BEING COMPLIED WITH, A WARM ENGAGEMENT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED

STANLEY MASSEY ARTHURS (1877–1950)
1929
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SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.419

Pittsburgh native Thornton Oakley was a student of Howard Pyle (1853–1911) who settled in Philadelphia, eventually earning the reputation as the dean of Philadelphia illustrators. However, he was also a successful muralist, art instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, and president of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club.

SELF PORTRAIT

THORNTON OAKLEY (1881–1953)
1927
CHARCOAL ON PAPER
MUSEUM PURCHASE; 2011.7

Edward Grant was a native of Wilmington, Delaware who studied at the Wilmington Academy of Art under instructors such as Frank Schoonover (1877–1972) and N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945). After retiring from his position as artistic director for Hercules, Inc., Grant moved to Neavitt, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where he spent the rest of his life continuing to paint within the art colony of Easton and St. Michaels, Maryland.

SCOUTS

EDWARD GRANT (1907–1998)
CA. 1930
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GIFT OF ALEX AND ALICIA GRANT; 2004.502

This painting by Frank E. Schoonover depicts a scene from James W. Steele’s story “The American Way.” In the story, a couple is being expelled from an old western town at gunpoint. Although this work is from early in the artist’s career, it is notable for its interesting composition and play of light and shadows. The Biggs has built and continues to build the largest and most diverse collection of works of art by Schoonover and donations such as this help the Biggs preserve and expand the artist’s legacy.

Period of American Illustration

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