July 1912 Woman's Home Companion Magazine Cover 1912

Jessie Willcox Smith painted this oil on canvas magazine cover in 1912. Oh, the challenge of painting flesh! Look at those rosy cheeks. Smith’s really trying to capture that brief, fleeting, moment. I love how she focuses on the softness of the child's chubby fingers. You can imagine her really looking, trying to figure out what it feels like to be a kid. Think about what it must have been like to paint for a magazine cover back then. It's almost like social media today, but with paint. She’s part of this lineage of artists, like Norman Rockwell, who are trying to say something about American life. I can imagine her looking at other artists and thinking, “How can I bring my own thing to this?” Maybe she’s thinking of Mary Cassatt and her paintings of mothers and children. It's all about this ongoing exchange.