Clara Elsene Peck (April 18, 1883 – February 1968) was an American illustrator 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 () is an American 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 the years, t ...

, and comic books and

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

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 Illustration#The_"Golden_Age", Golden Age of American illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators". A contributor to boo ...

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 20th century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural decoratio ...

. Peck's work appeared in exhibitions from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

to the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

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

art colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission ...

Leonia, New Jersey Leonia is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,304, an increase of 367 (+4.1%) from the 2010 United Sta ...

, with her collaborator and husband, artist John Scott Williams. In the 1940s, Peck contributed to Catholic comic books distributed to parochial schools. She focused on watercolor painting in the 1950s and her work was exhibited in Europe and the United States. Her most notable illustrations and artwork were published in three books early in her career: ''Shakespeare's Sweetheart'' (1905), ''A Lady of King Arthur's Court'' (1907), and ''In the Border Country'' (1909).

Early life

Clara Elsene Peck was born in Allegan,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

on April 18, 1883. Peck spent her youth in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

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 ...

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 became the 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, also known as J. Harvey Dunn (March 8, 1884 – October 29, 1952), was an American painter and teacher. During World War I, Dunn was an artist-correspondent with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Most of Du ...

founded the Leonia School of Illustration in

in 1915, Peck and Williams moved to an artist colony in Leonia, joining a group of about 90 professional artists. They lived in a house originally built by artist Charles Harry Eaton (American, 1850–1901) on Crescent Avenue and were neighbors with artist-couple 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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people. Gettysburg was the site of ...

. 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 local museum, regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canada, Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was establ ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. 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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. This was a period when technological innovations in

halftone Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone, continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.Campbell, Alastair. ''The Designer's Lexicon''. ...

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 (March 4, 1874 - December 26, 1936) was an American schoolteacher and novelist. Sterling specialized in fiction about historical and legendary figures, such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Anne Hathaway. Her novel ''Shakespea ...

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

''. 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 woman, women. Currently published *''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide) *''Al Jam ...

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

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...

'', ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was 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 ...

'', ''

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. Mott, Frank Luther. ''A ...

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

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1 ...

'', ''

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 Associati ...

'', ''

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 publi ...

'', 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 ...

'', 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 19 ...

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

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing 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 ide ...

s for companies such as

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

Metropolitan Life MetLife, Inc. is the 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, annuities, and employee benefit programs, w ...

, 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 surp ...

, and

Ivory Soap Ivory () is an American 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 the years, t ...

. 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. Reed was the author of several works on illustration and illustrators including Harold von Schmidt, John Clymer, and Joseph Clement Coll. In 1974, he founded t ...

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, Painting, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life ...

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 arti ...

, 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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

for ''Topix Comics'' and ''

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

'', a series of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

-themed

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

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, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

'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 college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

, at the

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

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. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

. 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 The New York Watercolor Society, also known as the New York Water Color Society, was a "short-lived" organization founded in 1850 by in part by John William Hill. It led to the founding of the American Watercolor Society in 1866. History It was an ...

and the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) 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. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

. Along with

Florence Scovel Shinn Florence Scovel Shinn (September 24, 1871 – 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"Promoting Authentic Le ...

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 September 27, 2008

Retrieved July 10, 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 female comics artists American 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 children's book illustrators 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters