Virginia Frances Sterret
Encyclopedia
Virginia Frances Sterrett (1900–1931) was an American artist and illustrator.
Sterrett received her first commission at the age of 19 (shortly after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis
) from the Penn Publishing Company to illustrate Old French Fairy Tales (1920) - a collection of works from the 19th century French author, Comtesse de Ségur (Sophie Fedorovna Rostopchine).
A year after the publication of Old French Fairy Tales, a new title including commissioned works from Sterrett was presented by the Penn Publishing Company - Tanglewood Tales (1921). From 1923, in failing health, Sterrett was able to work on projects for short periods of time only and as a result, she was able to complete just one further commission prior to her death - her own interpretation of Arabian Nights (1928).
Her best known work is the suite of illustrations for Arabian Nights (1928). She died of tuberculosis.
The comments of the St Louis Post-Dispatch in the supplement published following Sterrett's death (published 5 July 1931) pay fitting tribute to her life and work:
Sterrett received her first commission at the age of 19 (shortly after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
) from the Penn Publishing Company to illustrate Old French Fairy Tales (1920) - a collection of works from the 19th century French author, Comtesse de Ségur (Sophie Fedorovna Rostopchine).
A year after the publication of Old French Fairy Tales, a new title including commissioned works from Sterrett was presented by the Penn Publishing Company - Tanglewood Tales (1921). From 1923, in failing health, Sterrett was able to work on projects for short periods of time only and as a result, she was able to complete just one further commission prior to her death - her own interpretation of Arabian Nights (1928).
Her best known work is the suite of illustrations for Arabian Nights (1928). She died of tuberculosis.
The comments of the St Louis Post-Dispatch in the supplement published following Sterrett's death (published 5 July 1931) pay fitting tribute to her life and work:
Her achievement was beauty, a delicate, fantastic beauty, created with brush and pencil. Almost unschooled in art, her life spent in prosaic places of the West and Middle West, she made pictures of haunting loveliness, suggesting Oriental lands she never saw and magical realms no one ever knew except in the dreams of childhood ...
Perhaps it was the hardships of her own life that gave the young artist's work its fanciful quality. In the imaginative scenes she set down on paper she must have escaped from the harsh actualities of existence.
Works
All three books were published by the Penn Publishing Company. They were large books with large type, simple stories, and designed to be gift books for children.- Old French Fairy Tales by Comtesse de Segur, 1920
- Tanglewood TalesTanglewood TalesTanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls is a book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a sequel to A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys...
by Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, 1921 - Arabian Nights, 1928