274 . WAUNITA SMITH ( 1866-1959 ) TRIPTYCH OIL ON ARTIST BOARD “ TALL SHIPS IN OLD NANTUCKET HARBOR ,” signed lower left Waunita Smith . Original label on reverse : “ For Easy Street Gallery , 1 Aug . to 1 Sept . 1929 , ‘ Old Nantucket ’ $ 100 for three sections , Waunita Smith , 1905 Pine Street , Philadelphia , PA .” Left 21 ½ in . x 12 in . Mid 21 ½ in . x 22 ½ in . Right 21 ½ in . x 12 in .
A student of Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute , Wuanita Smith was a painter and printmaker active in Wilmington , Delaware , at the Rehoboth Beach Art Colony , and in Philadelphia . She was widely traveled and active professionally into her nineties .
Smith was born and remained based in Philadelphia , and began her art training in 1884 at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women . She also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts , the Art Students League in New York , and in Paris with printmaker Allen Lewis .
Early in her career , she was a successful children ’ s book illustrator including The Little Runaways at Home , 1922 . She was a founding member with Mary Mullineux of the American Color Print Society , and often exhibited with her in two-women exhibitions . She was also part of the Provincetown , Massachusetts group that developed the white line color block print method during World War I , and exhibited there in the 1920s and 1930s . She had a studio on Nantucket , and was a regular exhibitor at the summer art colony in Rehoboth Beach , Delaware , as well as the Pennsylvania Academy , the Plastic Club , and the Woodmere Art Museum . For many years , she also had living quarters in Philadelphia at the Clinton Hotel .
Source : “ American Art Review ,” April 2002
275 . SEASHELL ENCRUSTED FIREPLACE MANTEL . Height 65 in . Width 95 in . Depth 9 ½ in .
113 Rafael Osona Auctions