This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Born in Ronceverte, West Virginia to an long-time Southern family, John Cecil Clay was known for his illustrations including for "Life" magazine and "Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly". A reoccurring subject was pretty young women.
He was a student of H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Students League in New York and had a graphic style that was suited to illustration. Clay was married in Connecticut to Marie Bauduy of St. Louis, and they divorced in 1915, having no children.
Of side interest is the fact that upon his retirement in the late 1920s, he held the record for getting a record price at auction for an autograph. It was a document signed by Button Gwinnet, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Source:
Walt Reed, "The Illustrator in America 1860-2000"
Betty Torno, Clipping from "New York Herald", 2/1/1915 |
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