Bessie pease gutmann biography sample

Walk into any middle-class home in America in the early decades of this century, and chances were you would find a Bessie Pease Gutmann print hanging on the wall. Gutmann, a commercial illustrator and artist, once captivated the country with her sentimental pictures of cherubic children, demurely romantic young women, dewy-eyed brides and patriotic young mothers.

One of the most popular artists of her era, Gutmann was as well known in her time as James Montgomery Flagg and Rose O`Neill, illustrators whose work is avidly collected today. Yet, laments Victor J.W. Christie in ”Bessie Pease Gutmann: Her Life and Works” (Wallace-Homestead, 199 pages, $29.95 hardcover), Gutmann, who died in 1960 at the age of 84, remained for decades the ”forgotten artist,” seldom mentioned in art reference books.

Recent years, however, have seen a revival of interest in her work. Christie reports that in 1989, when a New York gallery auctioned 28 Gutmann prints, one brought $950, and many went for more than $200. (However, Gutmann prints routinely can be found for much less.)

Christie`s well-researched biography, written with input from the artist`s family, is an excellent introduction to Gutmann and her art and a must-have for Gutmann collectors. Besides the art prints a

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