Designer Alice Cordelia Morse

Alice Cordelia Morse (June 1, 1863-July 15, 1961) was an American designer of book covers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cordelia_Morse

Image from https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will

In 1885, two years after graduating from Cooper Union, Morse took a position at Tiffany and Company as a designer and painter of stained glass. Around this time, progressive American publishers began to commission artist-designers to design the covers of commercial books, rather than assigning the work to die-makers and engravers, as was customary. Morse grew interested in the emerging field of book-cover design while still at Tiffany’s. Perhaps in part due to her experience there, she developed an impressive ability to interpret nature motifs and historical ornament. On leaving Tiffany’s in 1889, Morse resumed her education at the Woman’s Art School while also working as an independent designer. She soon rose to the forefront of the first generation of artists to design commercially produced books.

Quote from Mindell Dubansky, author of
The Proper Decoration of Book Covers: The Life and Work of Alice C. Morse, 2008
http://alicemorse.blogspot.com/p/overview-2.html

 

Design for Stained Glass, late 19th century / Brush and gouache, watercolor on paper / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NYC

Art and Handicraft in the Woman’s Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 / Cloth cover with gold-stamped and silver-lined floral motifs / Smithsonian Libraries, DC

Design for Title Page, Occupations of Women and Their Compensation, c.1899 / Brush and gouache on paper / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NYC

Poems of Cabin and Field, 1899 / Cloth cover with orange and green stamping / National Museum of African American History and Culture, DC

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Further reading:
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mors/hd_mors.htm
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/11/06/Carnegie-Halls-Stained-Glass-Windows
https://bookbindersmuseum.org/women-in-book-cover-design/

Born April 18~ Clara Elsene Peck

Clara Elsene Peck (April 18, 1883-February 1968) was an early 20th century American illustrator and painter.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Elsene_Peck

Shake-speares Sweetheart by Sara Hawks Sterling / Illustrated by Clara Elsene Peck
1905 / Hard Cover / 282pp / Published by George W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia

Clara Elsene Peck on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Clara_Elsene_Peck

Further reading:
https://mcad.edu/alumni-profile/clara-peck
https://www.antiqueillustrationart.com/clara-elsene-peck
https://www.dbdowd.com/illustration-history/2015/11/19/clara-elsene-peck

November 30, 1953~ French artist Francis Picabia dies

Machine Tournez Vite (Machine Turn Quickly) by Francis Picabia

1916-1918 / Brush and ink with watercolor and shell gold over a 19th-century French lithographic illustration; laid down on canvas / 19 1/2”x12 7/8” / National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

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Previous November 30 posts:

November 30~ Artists at their Easels

Artist Birthday Quiz for 11/30~

Artist Birthday Quiz for 1/22~

What French painter, illustrator, and designer began painting in an Impressionist style but then became successively involved with the Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism movements?

What Dutch graphic and type designer has developed many popular typefaces, including those used by the signage systems of the Dutch highways and the Amsterdam metro?

Answers here~ https://schristywolfe.com/2015/01/22/january-22/

Artist Birthday Quiz for 6/20~

This French-born sculptor left for Copenhagen in 1753 to execute a bronze equestrian statue of Frederick V of Denmark and stayed there for twenty years, becoming director of the Danish Academy of Art.

This artist, best known for his collages, worked in several genres and media including: Dadaism, Constructivism, Surrealism, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, & what came to be known as installation art.

Answers here~ https://schristywolfe.com/2015/06/20/june-20/

Artist Birthday Quiz for 5/13~

What artist collaborated with Pablo Picasso, during which time among other things they developed Cubism, from 1909 until 1914?

In 1972, which German designer refined Olympic pictograms into the concise system that most people think of today as the symbols of the games?

Answers here~ https://schristywolfe.com/2015/05/13/may-13/