Neysa Moran McMein (born Marjorie Frances McMein; January 24, 1888 – May 12, 1949) was an American illustrator and portrait painter who studied at
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stud ...
. She began her career as an illustrator and during World War I, she traveled across France entertaining military troops with Anita P. Wilcox and Jane Bulley and made posters to support the war effort. She was made an honorary
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
in the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...
for her contributions to the war effort.
McMein was a successful illustrator of magazine covers, advertisements, and magazine articles for national publications, like ''
McClure's
''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...
'', ''
McCall's,'' ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
'', and ''
Collier's
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
''. McMein created the portrait of a fictional housewife "
Betty Crocker
Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the ''Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, ...
" for
General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...
. She was also a successful portrait painter who painted the portraits of presidents, actors, and writers.
Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...
members were entertained at her West 57th Street studio, where she was known for her active parties. ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine wrote an article about adult party games, which featured stories about McMein's parties. She had an open marriage to John G. Baragwanath, during which she had affairs with
Charlie Chaplin and
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades.
Early years
Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...
. Baragwanath described their marriage as a successful one based upon a deep friendship.
She was inducted into 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 ...
' Hall of Fame in 1984, 35 years after her death. McMein was one of 20 Society of Illustrators' artists to have their work published on a United States Postal Service Collectible Stamp sheet in 2001.
Early life and education
Marjorie Frances McMein was born in
Quincy, Illinois
Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...
on January 24, 1888. She was the daughter of Harry Moran and Isabelle Parker McMein. Harry McMein was a reporter before he worked for the McMein Publishing Company, a family business. Due to his alcoholism, his relationship with his wife was strained.
McMein had musical, acting, and artistic talent. After graduating with honors in 1907 from the Quincy High School, she attended
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. McMein worked at a large millinery firm, where she became lead designer. In 1911 or 1913, she went to New York City and after a brief stint as an actress in several of
Paul Armstrong's plays, she turned to commercial art. On the advice of a
numerologist, she adopted the name Neysa. John Baragwanath, her husband, stated that she chose the name Neysa after meeting one of
Homer Davenport
Homer Calvin Davenport (March 8, 1867 – May 2, 1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, most notably Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Al ...
's fillies at his stables. Whatever the original impetus for the change, McMein thought that the name Neysa "had a commercial value" above that of her birth name. McMein studied at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stud ...
in 1914.
Career

McMein sold her first drawing to the ''
Boston Star'' in 1914. She created
Harry Horowitz's portrait in 1915 before he was executed for
Herman Rosenthal's murder. That year, she sold an illustration for the cover of ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
'' and her ''Misinformation'' illustration appeared on the May 8, 1915, cover of ''
Puck'' magazine. She became known for her portrayal of "All American Girls."
McMein made posters for French and United States governments during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, as did
Thelma Cudlipp,
Helen Hyde and
Mary Brewster Hazelton. Posters that she made also were used by the
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desig ...
in its fund-raising campaigns.
She traveled across France to entertain the troops in 1918. Of her time at the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
, McMein said, "Since I have lived through air bombing I never will be frightened by anything on earth. The terror of air raids cannot be imagined. They are heralded by the blowing of sirens and the ringing of church bells, and amid this din the lights are extinguished and then suddenly come the bombs, falling no one knows where. The noise they made is worse than that of the battles."
McMein made portraits of some of the soldiers, drew cartoons, and colored the design of the Indian head insignia that was then used by the
93rd Bomb Squadron to denote the number of German planes that a given plane shot down by drawing a German black cross over one of the bear teeth in a necklace worn around the Indian head. She returned to the United States to care for her mother after her father died. While in Quincy, she spoke at two fund-raising drives. "
cMeinwas the main attraction. The theater was filled. She was an excellent speaker; very witty and clever," according to Sarah Carney. For her efforts supporting the U.S. war effort, McMein was appointed an honorary
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
in the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...
, one of only three women to be so honored.
Her illustrations appeared on the covers and within articles for ''
McClure's
''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...
'' magazine by 1919. By the 1920s, McMein and
Jessie Willcox Smith were two of the major women magazine illustrators of their time. Together, they created hundreds of covers for ''
McCall's'' and ''
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 Hous ...
'' magazines. Joseph Bernt, author of the article "The Girl on the Magazine Cover: The Origins of Visual Stereotypes in American Mass Media" found that both women and
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...
generally portrayed women in covers and illustrations as mothers, with scenes centered around children, during the 1920s and 1930s. Within the covers of the magazine were illustrations made by the three artists to sell consumer products, like Orange Crush, Ivory soap, Chesterfield cigarettes, and Holeproof Hosiery. Following World War I, increased emphasis of family life was presented in mass media following a period when
woman's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
and the
New Woman
The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence well into the 20th century. In 1894, Irish writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article, to refer t ...
were depicted in publications from the late 1800s according to Bernt. Carolyn Kitch, author of the book ''The Girl on the Magazine Cover'', finds, however, that McMein created illustrations of confident, modern
New Women for her magazine covers, while Jessie Wilcox Smith concentrated more steadily on children.

From 1923 through 1937, McMein created all of ''McCall's'' covers. She also supplied work to ''
National Geographic'', ''
Woman's Home Companion
''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...
'', ''
Collier's
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'', and ''
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For ...
''. McMein earned up to $2,500 (estimated ) per cover illustration. She created advertising graphics for
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...
,
Lucky Strike
Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuatin ...
cigarettes and
Palmolive soap.
Together with artists
Howard Chandler Christy and
Harrison Fisher
Harrison Fisher (July 27, 1875 or 1877 – January 19, 1934) was an American illustrator.
Career
Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.Harrison & Carring ...
, McMein constituted the jury for ''Motion Picture Classic'' magazine's "Fame and Fortune" contest of 1921/1922, which discovered the
It girl
An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging.
The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...
. Other promotional activities including judging Coney Island beauty contests or opening movie houses. McMein designed silk textiles in the mid-1920s, three examples of which are in the collection 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 100 ...
. In December 1929, she consulted with
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers ...
's design department, with five other women artists and decorators.
General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...
commissioned her to create the image of
Betty Crocker
Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the ''Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, ...
, a fictional housewife in 1936. She created an official portrait of Betty Crocker by combining features of the home economists employed by the company, which helped reinforce that Crocker was a real person. The image of the "ageless" 32-year-old was used in advertising and on packaging until 1955 when Hilda Taylor painted an updated Betty, who also wore bright red and white clothing. Like the Betty Crocker image, "Miss McMein was herself a kind of American demigoddess: the most courted of commercial artists, hostess in her New York studio to all of the '
Algonquin wits'—
Benchley,
Parker Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
*Parker, Arizona
*Parker, Colorado
*Parker, Florida
*Parker, Idaho
*Parker, Kansas
*Parker, Missouri
*Parker, North Carolina
*Parker, Pe ...
,
Franklin P. Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960) was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F.P.A.. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances a ...
—a wit herself. Sophistication lay rouge-deep upon the personalities of her cover girls; beneath lay reassuring testimonials to health and wholesomeness," wrote James Gray, author of ''Business Without Boundary: The Story of General Mills''.
In 1943, McMein collaborated with Alicia Patterson Guggenheim to create a comic strip, called "Deathless Deer." The strip starred a "deathless" Egyptian princess who awakens in modern New York City. McMein, while talented, was unfamiliar with comic strip drafting and conventions, and Guggenheim's writing suffered with the format. The strip was a commercial and critical failure; it was discontinued in 1943.
In April 1938, ''McCall's'' Magazine did not renew McMein's contract to produce illustrations for the magazine. By then, magazines could cost-effectively publish color photographs using four-color machines. McMein entered the field of portraiture, at first using pastels to depict
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
,
Edna St. Vincent Millay, and
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...
. She painted portraits of presidents
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, holding o ...
and
Warren G. Harding, author
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights.
Raised in Englewood, New Jers ...
, and actors
Charlie Chaplin and
Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Gladys Lillie, Lady Peel (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1989), known as Bea Lillie, was a Canadian-born British actress, singer and comedic performer.
She began to perform as a child with her mother and sister. She made her West End debut ...
. McMein also painted
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic A ...
,
Kay Francis
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...
,
Janet Flanner,
Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...
,
Anatole France
(; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie Franç ...
,
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
and Count
Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships ...
. She mentored photographer
Lee Miller.
Personal life

Her father died in 1918 while McMein was overseas entertaining the troops. She moved her mother Belle from Quincy, Illinois to live with her in New York. She was an "ardent supporter" of women's political, sexual, and economic rights. By 1920, McMein had walked in suffrage parades, traveled overseas extensively, and had ridden in Count Zeppelin's dirigible. She rode across an Arab desert with a woman journalist and friend and was proposed to by an Arab sheik in Algiers. McMein, who was a talented musician, had written an opera by that time, too. In 1921, McMein was among the first to join the
Lucy Stone League
The Lucy Stone League is a women's rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is "A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should hers. My name is my identity and must not be lost."“lucystoneleague.org�Archivedfrom the original ...
, an organization that fought for women to preserve their birth names after marriage in the manner of
Lucy Stone
Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, Sto ...
.

McMein—described as a tall, athletic, grave, and beautiful red-head—became a regular member of the
Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...
set, formed after the end of the war. Her West 57th Street studio in New York City became an "outpost" to the
Algonquin Hotel
The Algonquin Hotel is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett for the Puritan Realty Company. The hotel has hosted nume ...
, which appealed to the "Bohemian" nature of its members, which included
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
,
Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio ...
,
Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' C ...
,
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
,
Robert Sherwood,
Franklin Pierce Adams,
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at '' The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thr ...
,
Alice Duer Miller,
Harpo Marx
Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Gro ...
, and
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...
. She was prone to working in her smock at an easel as her guests enjoyed lively discussions and piano playing. Berlin finished composing ''
What'll I Do
"What'll I Do" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It was introduced by singers Grace Moore and John Steel late in the run of Berlin's third ''Music Box Revue'' and was also included in the following year's edition."American Classics - ...
'' at McMein's piano during one of her Round Table parties. McMein provided the cover illustration of Berlin's biography by Alexander Woollcott.
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
,
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regard ...
,
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
,
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
,
H.G. Wells, and
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
were friends. Dorothy Parker moved in with McMein in 1920 before renting an apartment in the same building.
McMein's mother died in 1923. The same year, McMein married John G. Baragwanath, a mining engineer and author, whom she met at a party given by
Irene Castle. Baragwanth was interested in the striking, fine-featured woman playing the piano while others danced and sang around her. McMein and Baragwanath had a daughter Joan in 1924.
Theirs was an
open marriage, and though the proprieties generally were observed, there were exceptions. In his memoirs, the lyricist and publicist
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz.
Biography
Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Co ...
recalled hearing that on one occasion, when Neysa noticed that her model for the day was impatient to leave, she asked: "Have you got a heavy date?" Model: "Yes, with a great guy, Jack Baragwanath." Meanwhile, Neysa was involved for several years with the Broadway director
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades.
Early years
Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...
, leading
Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio ...
to say that "we now call Neysa’s place in
Port Washington the 'Abbottoir.'" She also had affairs with
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at '' The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thr ...
,
Charlie Chaplin, who had a house near her cottage in Port Washington, and a platonic relationship with
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
. This occurred during a period when "
men are for the first time demanding to live the forbidden experience directly and draw conclusions on this basis," according to
Beatrice Hinkle in an article for ''The Nation''.
McMein lived a varied life in search of fun. She interspersed her life as an artist with riding on the back of an elephant in a parade, taking a swim on a whim, and enjoying parties. She hosted parties with games for adults to entertain artists, writers, actors and other celebrities. Her guests—like
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
,
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel '' Anne of Green Gables'' by L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic book series, which revolve around her life and family in 19th and 20th-century Prince ...
,
Robert Young Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob, or Bobby Young may refer to:
Academics
* R. A. Young (Robert Arthur Young, 1871–1959), British physician
* Robert J. C. Young (born 1950), British cultural critic and historian
* Robert J. Young (born 1942), Canadian h ...
, and
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearan ...
—engaged in games like a quickfire, multiple team version of charades called "The Game", that is sometimes attributed to McMein. The spelling game, where each person on a team wore a sign with one letter and played against another team so see who could arrange themselves the fastest in the proper order to spell a word, was played at her parties. McMein and the games that she employed at her parties were featured in a ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine article in 1946. McMein also entertained at the house she bought with Baragwanath on the
North Shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to:
Geographic features Australia
*North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney
**Electoral district of North Shore
**North Shore railway line, Sydney
*Noosa North Shore, Queensland
* North Shore, New So ...
of
Long Island in
Sands Point.
In 1942, she broke her back by falling downstairs during a sleepwalking episode. McMein was then required to have surgery to graft part of her hip to her spine.
Death
McMein died of cancer on May 12, 1949, in New York City and was survived by daughter Joan and her husband John Baragwanath.
In her will, McMein bequeathed monies to purchase works of arts annually by the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
. The museum bought 72 purchases from 1956, none of which were McMein's works. Like other illustrators' works, her illustrations were not considered fine art. In 1984, McMein was inducted into 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 ...
' Hall of Fame.
The United States Post Office released a 20-stamp collection in February 2001 that are based upon works created by 20 Society of Illustrators' artists, including McMein,
Rockwell Kent
Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager.
Biography
Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English descent. He lived much of ...
,
Al Parker
Al Parker (born Andrew Robert Okun; June 25, 1952 – August 17, 1992) was a gay American porn star, producer, and director. He died from complications of AIDS at the age of 40.
Early career
Parker was born in Natick, Massachusetts. After arriv ...
,
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 bega ...
,
Jessie Smith, and
Joseph Leyendecker
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (March 23, 1874 – July 25, 1951) was a German-American illustrator, considered one of the preeminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrati ...
.
Collections
*
Central School of Speech and Drama - ''
Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Gladys Lillie, Lady Peel (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1989), known as Bea Lillie, was a Canadian-born British actress, singer and comedic performer.
She began to perform as a child with her mother and sister. She made her West End debut ...
,''
*
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 ...
- ''Possibly a Cover Illustration,'' pastel on paper, 1919
* Library of Congress - ''One of the thousand Y.M.C.A. girls in France.'' Y.M.C.A., poster, 1918
* Alice Marshall's Women History Collection, Penn University, Harrisburg
** ''McCall's'', June 1925
** ''McCall's'', August 1929
** Advertisement for San-Tox Preparations, ''The American Magazine,'' 1919
*
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 100 ...
** ''American Print: Birches'', silk textile, 1925
** ''American Print: Hollywood'', silk textile, 1925
** ''Piece'', silk textile, 1927
*
Museum of the City of New York
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
, Theatre Collection - ''
Miss Katharine Cornell''
*
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
Poster Collection 1863-1948
** ''One of the thousand Y.M.C.A. girls in France.'' Y.M.C.A., poster, 1918
** ''Woman in cape and robe holding a sword and an oar, Grand Military Naval Meet and Ball, Benefit of Women's Oversea Hospitals,'' poster, 1917
* Quincy Art Center, Illinois
Published works
;Illustrator
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;Author
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In popular culture
McMein was portrayed by actress
Rebecca Miller in the film ''
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle'' (1994).
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMein, Neysa
1880s births
1949 deaths
American portrait painters
American women illustrators
American illustrators
American women painters
American female comics artists
People from Port Washington, New York
People from Quincy, Illinois
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
20th-century American painters
20th-century American women artists
Algonquin Round Table