Rose O'Neill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rose O'Neill |
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O'Neill pictured ca. 1907
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| Born | Rose Cecil O'Neill June 25, 1874 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 1944 (aged 69) Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
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Notable works
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Kewpie |
| Spouse(s) |
Gray Latham
(m. 1892–1901)Harry Leon Wilson
(m. 1902–1907) |
Rose Cecil O'Neill (June 25, 1874 – April 6, 1944) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer. She became a very successful artist and writer. At a young age, she was one of the best-known and highest-paid female illustrators in the United States. O'Neill became very rich and famous worldwide for creating the Kewpie characters. These were the most popular cartoon characters until Mickey Mouse came along.
Rose was raised in rural Nebraska. Her father sold books, and her mother was a homemaker. She loved art from a young age. At fifteen, she moved to New York City to become an illustrator. Her Kewpie cartoons first appeared in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. Later, in 1912, a German toy company named J. D. Kestner made them into bisque dolls. Other versions were made from different materials like composition and celluloid. These dolls were incredibly popular in the early 1900s. They are considered one of the first toys to be sold in huge numbers in the United States.
O'Neill also wrote several novels and poetry books. She was very active in the women's suffrage movement, which fought for women's right to vote. Because of the success of her Kewpie dolls, she was, for a time, the highest-paid female illustrator in the world. Rose O'Neill has been honored by being included in the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Artistic Beginnings
Rose Cecil O'Neill was born on June 25, 1874, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her parents were William Patrick Henry and Alice Cecilia Asenath Smith O'Neill. She had two younger sisters and three younger brothers. Her father loved books, art, and theater. Her mother was a talented musician, actress, and teacher. Rose showed her artistic and writing skills very early in life.
When she was thirteen, Rose entered a children's drawing contest. It was sponsored by the Omaha Herald newspaper. She won first prize for her drawing, which was called "Temptation Leading to an Abyss." Within two years, O'Neill was drawing for local Omaha newspapers like Excelsior and The Great Divide. She also worked for other magazines. The editor of the Omaha World-Herald and the Art Director from Everybody Magazine helped her get these jobs. The money she earned helped her family, as her father struggled to make enough money as a bookseller. O'Neill went to the Sacred Heart Convent school in Omaha.
Rose O'Neill's Career Journey
Moving to New York City
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In 1893, Rose's father brought her to New York to help start her art career. On the way, they visited the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. There, she saw large paintings and sculptures for the first time. Before this, she had only seen such art in her father's books. Rose then stayed with the Sisters of St. Regis, a convent in New York City. The nuns went with her to different publishers to show her sixty drawings. She sold her drawings to many publishing houses and started getting requests for more.
On September 19, 1896, a four-panel comic strip by O'Neill appeared in Truth magazine. This made her the first American woman to publish a comic strip. While Rose lived in New York, her father claimed a small piece of land in the Ozarks wilderness in southern Missouri. This land had a ""dog-trot" cabin" with two log rooms and a breezeway in between. A year later, when Rose visited the land, it was known as "Bonniebrook."
During this time, O'Neill became very successful. She joined the staff of Puck, an American humor magazine. She was the only woman on their staff. In 1909, she started drawing advertisements for Jell-O. She also drew illustrations for Harper's and Life magazines.
Early Illustrations and Marriages
In 1892, while in Omaha, Rose met Gray Latham. They married in 1896. He visited her in New York and wrote to her when she went to Missouri to see her family. Rose sent a lot of her earnings home to help her family.
Rose became unhappy with Latham because he spent her money on himself. She moved to Taney County, Missouri, and divorced him in 1901. She then returned to Bonniebrook. Latham died that same year.
In late 1901, O'Neill started getting anonymous letters and gifts. She found out they were from Harry Leon Wilson, an editor at Puck. Rose and Harry fell in love and married in 1902. After a honeymoon in Colorado, they lived at Bonniebrook for several winters. During their marriage, Wilson wrote two novels, The Lions of the Lord (1903) and The Boss of Little Arcady (1905). Rose drew the pictures for both books. They divorced in 1907.
In 1904, O'Neill published her first novel, The Loves of Edwy. She also drew the pictures for it. A review in 1905 said her illustrations showed a "rare breadth of sympathy with and understanding of humanity."
The Kewpies: Rose O'Neill's Big Breakthrough
In the 1800s, more women became professional artists. Many women artists, including O'Neill, were seen as examples of the "New Woman." This was a new idea of a woman who was educated, modern, and independent. These artists helped show what the New Woman was like through their art and their own lives. At this time, most magazine readers were women. Publishers started hiring women to create art that showed the world from a woman's point of view.
In 1908, during this time of change for women, O'Neill started focusing on creating her own unique art. This is when she created the fun and playful Kewpie characters. Their name, "Kewpie," comes from Cupid, the Roman god of love. Rose said she was so focused on the Kewpies that she even dreamed about them. She described them as "a sort of little round fairy whose one idea is to teach people to be merry and kind at the same time."
The Kewpie characters first appeared as a comic strip in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. More Kewpie comics were published in Woman's Home Companion and Good Housekeeping. This helped the cartoons become very popular very quickly.
In 1912, a German company called J. D. Kestner started making Kewpie dolls. Rose traveled to their factory in Waltershausen to make sure the dolls looked just right. Later, dolls were made from other materials like composition and celluloid. These were some of the first toys sold in large numbers in the United States. As Rose became famous, she was known for her free-spirited lifestyle. She also became a strong supporter of women's rights.
The Kewpies' success made her a huge fortune. She bought properties like Bonniebrook, an apartment in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, and a villa in Italy. At the peak of the Kewpie craze, Rose O'Neill was the highest-paid female illustrator in the world. She was well-known in New York City's art scene. She even inspired the song "Rose of Washington Square".
Later Career and Art
Rose O'Neill kept working, even when she was very wealthy. She explored many different kinds of art. She learned sculpture from the famous artist Auguste Rodin. She had several exhibitions of her sculptures and paintings in Paris and the United States. These artworks were more experimental and were often inspired by dreams and mythology. Rose lived in Paris from 1921 to 1926. While there, she was chosen to join the Société Coloniale des Artistes Français in 1921. She also had shows of her sculptures in Paris and New York in 1921 and 1922.
In 1927, O'Neill returned to the United States. By 1937, she was living at Bonniebrook permanently. By the 1940s, she had lost most of her money and properties. This was partly due to her spending a lot and supporting her family and many friends. The Great Depression also affected her wealth. During this time, Rose was sad to find that her art was no longer in high demand. After thirty years of popularity, the Kewpie characters were not as famous. Also, photography was starting to replace illustrations in advertising. Rose tried to create a new doll called Little Ho Ho, a laughing baby Buddha. However, the factory where they planned to make the doll burned down before production could start.
Personal Life and Legacy
Rose O'Neill became an important person in the Branson, Missouri, community. She gave her time and artwork to the School of the Ozarks at Point Lookout, Missouri. She also stayed active in the local art community.
On April 6, 1944, Rose O'Neill died from heart failure at her nephew's home in Springfield, Missouri. She is buried in the family cemetery at Bonniebrook Homestead. Her mother and other family members are also buried there. Bonniebrook Homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Published Works by Rose O'Neill
As Author and Illustrator
- The Loves of Edwy (1904)
- The Lady in the White Veil (1909)
- The Kewpies and Dottie Darling (1912)
- The Kewpies: Their Book, Verse and Poetry (1913)
- The Kewpie Kutouts (1914)
- The Kewpie Primer (1916)
- The Master-Mistress (1922)
- Kewpies and the Runaway Baby (1928)
- Garda (1929)
- The Goblin Woman (1930)
Illustrator Only
- The Lions of the Lord by Harry Leon Wilson (1903)
- The Boss of Little Arcady by Harry Leon Wilson (1905)
- The Hickory Limb by Parker Hoysted Fillmore (1910)
- Our Baby’s Book (1914)
- A Little Question of Ladies’ Rights by Parker Hoysted Fillmore (1916)
- Tomorrow's House; or The Tiny Angel by George O'Neil (1930) – a book she worked on with her brother
- Sing a Song of Safety by Irving Caesar (1937)
See also
In Spanish: Rose O'Neill para niños
