Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall (September 12, 1861 – September 25, 1956) was an American painter and illustrator. She illustrated ''The Book of Cats'' (1903), ''The Book of Dogs'', ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1927), and other books. She created illustrations for

Henry Christopher McCook Henry Christopher McCook (July 3, 1837 – 1911) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, natural history, naturalist, and prolific author on religion, history, and nature. He was a member of the celebrated Fighting McCooks, a family of Ohio in ...

's ''American Spiders and their Spinningwork''. McCook credits her for making most of the illustrations for the volume. Bonsall also created illustrations for magazines. She won several awards for her works between 1885 and 1897. Bonsall was a student of

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

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

and member of

The Plastic Club The Plastic Club is an arts organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1897 for women only, the Plastic Club is one of the oldest art clubs in the United States. It is located on the 200 block of Camac Street, the "Little Street ...

in the United States. In Paris, she studied under

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Japa ...

and

Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Life Courtois was born 18 May 1852 i ...

Personal life

Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall was born on September 12, 1861 in Fernwood,

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylvan ...

. Her parents were Amos Bonsall and Anna Wagner Bonsall. Amos was a Navy officer and an explorer on a two-year Arctic Expedition (1853-1855) led by

Elisha Kane Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the Af ...

. He served for the Union Army during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and was later the director of homes for children. Elizabeth's sisters were Ethel, Sarah and Mary. During her adulthood, she lived at 3430 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Bonsall believed in woman's right to vote. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Education

She studied under

and

at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Drexel Institute Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

by 1897. Bonsall received the first Toppan Prize in 1885 and won the

Mary Smith Prize The Mary Smith Prize (defunct) was a prestigious art prize awarded to women artists by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It recognized the best work by a Philadelphia woman artist at PAFA's annual exhibition — one that showed "the mo ...

twice, in 1888 and 1897. In Paris, she studied at

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

and under

and

Career

Bonsall taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. One of her students was

Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts (June 10, 1871 – March 12, 1927) was an American painter who lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Paris, and Concord, Massachusetts. She established the Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy ...

. Bonsall specialized in paintings of animals. She wrote the story ''Winter at the Zoo'', which Bonsall and A. Doring illustrated. It appeared in the November 1892 issue of ''

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 ...

''. Bonsall created illustrations of spiders for

's ''American Spiders and their Spinningwork: A Natural History of the Orbweaving Spiders of the United States, with Special Regard to their Industry and Habits'', which was published in 1893. She drew almost all of the spider plates, according to Cook's preface in the atlas. At the 1897 The Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Bonsall exhibited ''Portrait'' and ''Hot Milk''. She was a member of

. When its fall exhibition was held in 1898, her work and that of other of Pyle's former students—such as

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''. ...

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 ...

Charlotte Harding Charlotte Harding (1873–1951) was an American illustrator. She signed her work with her maiden name, but her name in her personal life was Charlotte Harding Brown after she married James A. Brown in 1905. She illustrated magazines, such as ''The ...

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 ...

, and Angela De Cora—were singled out. A poster of Bonsall's was exhibited in the January 1899 exhibition, and along with works of other club members, gained special attention within the art community. She exhibited at the summer show at the

Worcester Art Museum The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among th ...

in 1901. Bonsall illustrated Mabel Humphrey's ''The Book of the Cat'' (1903), which is a collection of stories of the adventures of cats and kittens. Of her illustrations, ''The Book News Monthly'' wondered if she might be a

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...

in the making. In 1904, ''The Book of the Dog'' was published with her full-page colored illustrations of Alice Calhoun Haines' stories and verses. Her prints of ''The Cat'' and ''The Dog'' were sold in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine and ''The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer'' in 1905. Elizabeth Shippen Green and Jessie Willcox Smith's illustration of ''The Child'' was also sold in both publications that year. Bonsall's illustrations appeared in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'' in 1907 and 1908. She illustrated a book for the School for the Deaf entitled ''Stories in Prose and Rhyme and Nature Lessons for Little Children'' that was published in 1912. The same year, ''The Cat'' was published, edited by

Agnes Repplier Agnes Repplier (April 1, 1855 – December 15, 1950) was an American essayist. Early years She was born in Philadelphia in 1855,Nancy A. Walker, Nancy Nash-Cummings, Zita Dresner. Redressing the balance: American women's literary humor from Colo ...

and illustrated by Bonsall. Both Elizabeth and Mary Bonsall exhibited at the 1920 exhibition of The Plastic Club. Elizabeth's works were exhibited during Philadelphia's Artists' Week in April 1922. In 1927, she illustrated ''The Pied Piper of Hamlin, a Children's Story''. The book is the story of the rat-infested town of

Hamelin Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. H ...

, Germany and the pied piper who lures rodents to the river to drown with the sound of his music. 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 ...

states of her illustrations, "Bonsall's vivid brushstroke suggests the frenetic scramble at the sound of the piper." Papers about her career, including exhibition catalogs, artist's statements, publications, brochures, and reviews are held at the

Smithsonian Libraries Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

Collections

* Chester County Historical Society, Pennsylvania ** ''Amos Bonsall'' (1830-1915), oil on canvas, circa 1900 ** ''Portrait of Anne Heacock Bonsall,'' oil, 1895 *

, Wilmington ** ''The Pied Piper'', gouache on paper, illustration ** ''Untitled illustration,'' gouache on paper, illustration, 1927 *

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.1861 births 1956 deaths 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Drexel University alumni Académie Colarossi alumni Artists from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty Students of Thomas Eakins