Wuanita Smith

Wuanita Smith (January 1, 1866 – February 18, 1959) was an American painter, printmaker, and illustrator of children's books.^[1][2] Her work is held in the National Gallery of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Illustration from Oh, Virginia! (1920)

Biography

Smith was born in Philadelphia on January 1, 1866, and was the daughter of an oil refinery operator.^[3][4] After finishing grammar school, Smith attended and graduated from the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. In 1887, she worked her first job as a jewelry designer.^[4]

Smith later attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Drexel Institute.^[4] She studied with Howard Pyle, Hugh Breckenridge, Ralph Pearson and exhibited at Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry along with other female artists.^[5][3] She belonged to The Plastic Club, an arts organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her aquatint picture Approaching Storm is at the National Gallery of Art.^[6] Her woodcut print Skating is part of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art collection.^[7]

She died on February 18, 1959, in Philadelphia, at the age of 94.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Illustration from A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony (1915)
• 
  Illustration from A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony (1915)

Bibliography

• The Four Corners Abroad by Amy Ella Blanchard, part of the Four Corners series, illustrated by Wuanita Smith (G.W. Jacobs, 1909)
• At least three books from the Admiral's Granddaughter Series by Elizabeth Lincoln Gould
  • The Admiral's Granddaughter (1907), illustrated by Wuanita Smith
  • The Admiral's Little Housekeeper (1910), illustrated by Wuanita Smith, about the Beaumont family Christmas
  • The Admiral's Little Secretary (1911), illustrated by Wuanita Smith
• The Little Runaways At Home (1912) by Alice Turner Curtis
• A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony (1915)
• Oh, Virginia! (1920) by Helen Sherman Griffith^[8]
• Brothers Grimm and other stories (1922)^[9]
• Grandpa's Little Girls and Their Friends (1925) by Alice Turner Curtis