 Lillian Wilhelm is primarily known as Lillian Wilhelm Smith
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Ad Code: 4
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An example of work by Lillian Wilhelm
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in New York City and raised in affluence, Lillian Wilhelm Smith is noted as a watercolorist and the first and only woman to illustrate western novels by Zane Grey.
She studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, Columbia University, and the Leonia School of Art in New Jersey. Using the name Lillian Wilhelm, she became a recognized illustrator in New York City. Her exposure to the West began in 1912 in New York with Buffalo Bill's "Wild West Show" when thanks to Zane Grey, her cousin, she got backstage to paint the Indians.
She came to Arizona in 1913 with Grey, to illustrate his book, "The Rainbow Trail," and she also illustrated his novel "The Border Legion," 1916. Obviously this location was a long way from the sophisticated east coast environment in which she had been raised, but she learned to love the West exploring and painting some of the regions most remote areas.
She remained in Arizona for fifty years, living with cowboy-husband, Jesse Smith, in Tuba City, where they ran a trading post and guest ranch that had Hopi architectural style of the area. They later ran the same type of guest-ranch operation at Sedona and also lived at Prescott.
She traveled throughout Arizona, doing landscape painting and occasional Indian portraits, and she exhibited widely. People especially enjoyed her paintings because they often had special stories associated with some adventure she had had while doing the work. Reportedly she was the first woman to paint on location the Rainbow Bridge in Utah and was one of the only artists to paint in Havasupai Canyon in Arizona.
For three years, she was resident artist at the Phoenix Biltmore Hotel, and she also designed porcelain with Indian motifs for Goldwater's Store in Phoenix.
Source:
Phil and Marion Kovinick, "Women Artists of the American West"
LITERATURE REFERENCE
"Plateau Journal"
Spring 2003, Vol. 7, Number 1
"A Grand Thing to Live With" by Fran Elliott
The "Plateau Journal" is a publication of the Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff.
Fran Elliott, a long-time resident of Sedona, Arizona, is a collector of historic art of Arizona, especially subjects of 20th Century women in the Southwest.
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| | Born in NYC on May 16, 1882. Lillian Wilhelm studied at the NAD, ASL, and Columbia University. In 1913 she began making trips to Arizona and after her marriage to Jesse Smith in 1924, settled there. While based in Phoenix and Sedona, she made painting trips to California. She died in Prescott, AZ on Feb. 22, 1971. Exh: Calif. WC Society, 1926; Arizona Museum (Phoenix), 1929 (solo); Paul Elders Gallery (SF), 1931 (solo). | Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Artists of the American West (Samuels); Women Artists of the American West; Prescott Courier, 2-22-1971 (obituary). | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
Biography from Arizona Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts:
| Lillian Wilhelm Smith had the distinction of being accepted into the Art Student's League at the age of twelve! She went on to study there many years, and also taught at the National Academy of Design in New York.
Her commercial career was highlighted by her work as an illustrator to her cousin, Zane Grey, and her many depictions of the Arizona landscape. One of her most important influences was Arthur Dow.
Lillian Smith worked in all media, and supplemented her income by helping her cowboy-husband, Jess Smith, operate a trading post, and bed-and-breakfast in Sedona, AZ.
She later died in Prescott, Arizona
A wonderful book on Lillian Wilhelm Smith's life is entitled, "Arizona Triptych", by Donna Ashworth. |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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Lillian Wilhelm is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Painters of Grand Canyon
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