At a Disadvantage

After moving from Nebraska to New York City, Rose Cecil O’Neill found herself living in a modern era that had a strong influence on her style: she developed a decorativeness in her work based in part on the flowing linearism of art nouveau. As O’Neill’s unique style emerged, she illustrated regularly for Truth, Collier’s, Harper’s, and Life.

In 1897, she was hired as staff artist for Puck, the satiric illustrated weekly. She was one of the few women to successfully maintain a career on the foremost humor magazine among such peers as Charles Dana Gibson and Frank Nankivell. O’Neill produced over 1,000 illustrations and cartoons for the magazine whose editorial staff encouraged lampooning all walks of society. She specialized in cartoons that targeted scheming women, parents, minorities, critics, artists, and especially the relationships between men and women.

A pen and ink drawing At a Disadvantage was produced for Puck in 1903. The work is captioned with a dialogue: "If you’d let me advise you in this love affair –" "Well you see, Auntie, though you’re a good deal older than I am, you haven’t had much experience."