Katharine Richardson Wireman

Biography from Delaware Art Museum

DELAWARE ART MUSEUM EXHIBITS

KATHARINE RICHARDSON WIREMAN ILLUSTRATIONS

WILMINGTON, DE (September 20, 2012) -

Katharine Richardson Wireman (1878 - 1966) studied with famed Wilmington artist Howard Pyle before

embarking on a 50-year career as an illustrator. Her lively illustrations, which often featured domestic

scenes, ranged from advertisements and fashion features to children's books to engaging color covers of popular magazines such as The Country Gentleman

.

Drawn from the Delaware Art Museum's renowned illustration collection, as well as from several private

collectors, "So Beautifully Illustrated: Katharine Richardson Wireman" was on view October 6, 2012 -

January 6, 2013, and highlighted 48 stunning oil paintings watercolors, and drawings created by Richardson

Wireman between 1912 and 1950. Visitors could enjoy an adjunct exhibition of Wireman's work in cases next to the Library on the Museum's Lower Le vel. This collection is part of the Katharine Richardson Wireman Archives in the Museum's Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives.

About Katharine Richardson Wireman Richardson:

Wireman was a successful female illustrator in a highly competitive field. From the turn of the twentieth century through the 1920s, colorful covers were used as a tactic to boost magazine sales at newsstands, and editors were eager to find illustrators who could create both profuse and striking illustrations to grab readers' attentions. Richardson Wireman's ability to offer editors an array of subjects and moods won her recognition and repeated commissions.

She excelled at depicting women, children, and families in domestic settings, scenes that dominated magazine covers of the time period. These familiar characters—which her three daughters sometimes modeled for—were often situated in plots of everyday home life. Her illustrations were emotive and entertaining, full of energetic and optimistic characters. These skills gave Richardson Wireman's work a lifelike quality, pleasing editors and reader's alike.