Clara Elsene Peck (April 18, 1883 – February 1968) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and painter known for her illustrations of women and children in the early 20th century. Peck received her arts education from the

Minneapolis School of Fine Arts The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

and was employed as a magazine illustrator from 1906 to 1940. Peck's body of work encompasses a wide range, from popular women's magazines and children's books, works of fiction,

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

for products like

Ivory soap Ivory (french: Savon d'Ivoire) is a flagship personal care brand created by the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including varieties of white and mildly scented bar soap that became famous for its claim of purity and for floating on water. Over ...

, and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s and

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the U ...

later in her career. Peck worked during the "Golden Age of American Illustration" (1880s–1930s) contemporaneous with noted female illustrators

Jessie Willcox Smith Jessie Willcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935) was an American illustrator during the Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". A contributor to books and magazines during the lat ...

Elizabeth Shippen Green Elizabeth Shippen Green (September 1, 1871 – May 29, 1954) was an American illustrator. She illustrated children's books and worked for publications such as ''The Ladies' Home Journal'', ''The Saturday Evening Post'' and ''Harper's Magazine''. ...

and

Violet Oakley Violet Oakley (June 10, 1874 – February 25, 1961) was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural deco ...

. Peck's work appeared in exhibitions from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

to the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

, and she received awards from the New York Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in the 1920s. Peck resided in an

art colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

Leonia, New Jersey Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,Allegan,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

on April 18, 1883. Peck spent her youth in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

and later studied art at the

. She took classes at the

where she studied under

American Impressionist American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose b ...

painter and teacher

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

. Reminiscing about her early years, Peck said: "With me the desire to become an artist has been strong since childhood. Other members of the family in previous generations were artists, making the love and joy in creative expression a natural one to me."

Marriage and later life

In 1906, Peck married British-born illustrator John Scott Williams (1877–1975), and they produced two children together, Aynard and Conway. Peck and Williams shared similar styles, leading the two to occasionally collaborate on illustrations together. These works were signed with the first initials of their last names, "P W". Some of Peck's works are also credited as Clara Elsene Williams and the press sometimes referred to her as "Mrs. John Scott Williams". After illustrator

Harvey Dunn Harvey Thomas Dunn NA (March 8, 1884 – October 29, 1952) was an American painter and teacher. He is best known for his prairie-intimate masterpiece, ''The Prairie is My Garden'' (1950). In this painting, a mother and her two children ar ...

founded the Leonia School of Illustration in

Leonia, New Jersey Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,John Rutherford Boyd (1882–1951) and Harriet Repplier Boyd. The Boyds' house became a community center of artistic gatherings where many of Leonia's artists exhibited their works. The marriage between Peck and Williams came to an end, and J. Scott Williams remarried in 1930. Peck later resided in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

. Towards the end of her life, art historian Helen Teri Caro located Peck and acquired over 100 pieces of her artwork on behalf of the

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was established as a private non-profi ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

. Peck died in Gettysburg in February 1968.

Career

Illustration

Peck's career in illustration began in the early 1900s with her work for publisher George W. Jacobs in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. This was a period when technological innovations in

halftone Halftone is the reprographic Reprography (a portmanteau of ''reproduction'' and ''photography'') is the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means, such as photography or xerography. Reprography is commonly used in catal ...

and color printing engendered the "Golden Age of Illustration".Reed, ''The Illustrator in America: 1860–2000'', p. 111 In addition to illustrations, Peck created decorations and lettering designs for books. Notable works from this period include illustrations for

Sara Hawks Sterling Sara Hawks Sterling was an American schoolteacher and novelist. Sterling specialized in fiction about historical and legendary figures, such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare), Anne Hathaway. Her novel ''Shakespe ...

's ''Shakespeare's Sweetheart'' (1905) and ''A Lady of King Arthur's Court'' (1907), and

Josephine Daskam Bacon Josephine Dodge Daskam, Mrs. Selden Bacon (February 17, 1876 – July 29, 1961) was an American writer of great versatility. She is chiefly known as a writer who made the point of having female protagonists. Career Josephine Dodge Daskam was bor ...

's ''In the Border Country'' (1909). Peck eventually illustrated at least four additional books by Bacon. Theatre Magazine 21

By 1908, Peck had designed her first cover for ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

''. Peck began illustrating

women's magazines This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *'' Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *''All ...

during the 1910s and 1920s, contributing to ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'', ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'', ''

Today's Housewife ''Today's Housewife'' was an American women's magazine in the early 20th century. History and profile The magazine was started in May 1905 under the name ''Today's Magazine''. It was published by the Canton Magazine Co.Frank Luther Mott, Mott, Fr ...

'', and ''Household Magazine''. Peck's magazine illustrations appeared in ''

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1905. Dodge published work by th ...

'', ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

'', ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

'', the ''

Pictorial Review The ''Pictorial Review'' was an American women's magazine published from 1899 to 1939. Based in New York, the ''Pictorial Review'' was first published in September 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of German i ...

'', and ''

The Youth's Companion ''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with ''The American Boy'' in 1929. ...

''. She contributed several cover illustrations to '' Theatre Magazine'' in the early 1920s and worked as a commercial artist on

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

s for companies such as

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

Metropolitan Life MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produc ...

, the

Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surpas ...

, and

Ivory Soap Ivory (french: Savon d'Ivoire) is a flagship personal care brand created by the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including varieties of white and mildly scented bar soap that became famous for its claim of purity and for floating on water. Over ...

. Peck also illustrated educational books, educational certificates, sheet music, fiction, and fairy tales. Women and children in Peck's work were depicted with great sensitivity in a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. Art historian and illustrator

Walt Reed Walt Reed (1917-2015) was an art historian and author of books on illustration. He was the author of several works on illustration and illustrators including Harold von Schmidt, John Clymer, and Joseph Clement Coll. In 1974, he founded the g ...

describes Peck's style as "decorative in composition and sensitive in rendering". Artistic themes found in Peck's work include education, child psychology, and the expectant mother. The decorative style of the period was popularized by seminal American illustrator

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

and his female students.Reed, ''The Illustrator in America: 1860–2000'', p. 87 According to Elizabeth H. Hawkes, curator emeritus of the

Delaware Art Museum The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...

, the style consisted of "using flat, brightly colored figures boldly outlined and placed against a patterned background. They incorporated elements of the popular 1890s poster style and borrowed motifs from Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, and the English Arts and Crafts movement style of illustration." Peck's career in illustration was active from the "Golden Age of American Illustration" through the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

when the careers of illustrators suffered due to the poor economy.Reed, ''The Illustrator in America: 1860–2000'', p. 163 The output of magazine illustrations from Peck continued until at least 1935.

Cartooning

In the 1940s, Peck worked as a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

for ''Topix Comics'' and ''

Treasure Chest Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

'', a series of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

-themed

s. ''Topix Comics'' was launched in 1942 and produced in St. Paul, Minnesota. The comic book featured stories of courageous Christians, Saints, and Biblical narratives, and by 1946, it had a circulation of over 600,000. Peck's work was distributed exclusively in parochial schools and appeared throughout most of the title's nine-year run. She also provided material for early issues of the similarly themed ''Treasure Chest'' title, including a few episodes of "The Robinson's Rumpus Room" feature and the cover for Volume 2, Number 9 in 1946.

Painting

Peck participated in several exhibitions in the 1950s, beginning with the

American Watercolor Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

. From 1956 to 1957, Peck was part of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

's European traveling exhibition; In 1958, Peck's work appeared at the Washington County Museum of Art, in a solo exhibition at

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

, at the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Art Center, and in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bounde ...

. The

Brandywine River Museum The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, and ...

and the

host her paintings. Since 2000, a few landscape and portrait oil paintings sales have been recorded at various auction houses.

Awards and distinctions

Peck was a member of several art associations, including the American Watercolor Society (1931–1967), the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, National Association of Women Artists, the New York Watercolor Society and the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

. Along with

Florence Scovel Shinn Florence Scovel Shinn (September 24, 1871 in Camden, New Jersey – October 17, 1940) was an American artist and book illustrator who became a New Thought spiritual teacher and metaphysical writer in her middle years.Gatlin, Linda; Edwards, Rita"P ...

Rose O'Neill Rose Cecil O'Neill (June 25, 1874 – April 6, 1944) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer. She rose to fame for her creation of the popular comic strip characters, Kewpies, in 1909, and was also the first published fema ...

and others, Peck was one of the first 20 women to become a member of the Society of Illustrators by 1922, representing about 10% of the total membership. In 1913, Peck's work was featured in exhibitions at the

and the

, and at the National Association of Women Artists and the New York Association of Women Painters and Sculptors where she won awards in 1920 and 1921. Posthumously, Peck's works were featured in the seminal 1976 New York exhibition, ''200 Years of American Illustration''; In 1985 at the ''America's Great Women Illustrators 1850–1950'' exhibition in New York; And, in 1986, at the ''American Illustration 1890–1925'' exhibition held in Calgary.

Selected illustrated books

* ''Phases, Mazes and crazes of love''. By Minna Thomas Antrim. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs and Company, 1904. * ''Knocks, Witty Wise and ____''. By Minna Thomas Antrim. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs and Company, 1905. * ''Shakespeare's Sweetheart''. By Sara Hawks Sterling. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co, 1905. * ''A Lady of King Arthur's Court''. By Sara Hawks Sterling. Philadelphia: George W Jacobs and Co., 1907. * ''In the Border Country''. By Josephine Daskam Bacon. New York: Doubleday Page, 1909. * ''The Hallowell Partnership''. By Katharine Holland Brown. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. * ''The Prince of Mercuria''. By Atkinson Kimball. New York: Heart's International Library Co., 1914. * ''The Diary of an Expectant Mother''. By Charlotte Hirsch. Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1917.

Gallery

Notes and references

External links

* *
Auction records at askart.com
Retrieved 27-09-2008

Retrieved 10-07-2008

Book illustrations

Girl Wanted!
by Josephine Daskam Bacon
In the Border Country
by Josephine Daskam Bacon

by Atkinson Kimball {{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Clara Elsene 1968 deaths 1883 births People from Allegan, Michigan American women painters American female comics artists Fantasy artists American children's book illustrators Artists from Michigan Artists from Minnesota Artists from New Jersey Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni National Association of Women Artists members People from Leonia, New Jersey American women illustrators 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists