Rose O'Neill (1874-1944) = Self-taught Artist/Illustrator. Author. Free-Spirit. Poet. Best known for her Kewpie characters. Rose was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1874 to "Meemie" Alice and William Patrick O'Neill as one child of seven. She attended a Catholic primary in Omaha, Nebraska and taught herself to draw by looking at illustrations in her father's books.
The Kewpies first appeared in 1909 as cartoon characters in the Christmas issue of Ladies' Home Journal and were regularly featured in other women's magazines for the next twenty-five years, however by 1912, German porcelain doll makers were creating dolls based on her Kewpie illustrations. She said she wanted her Kewpies to teach people to be happy and kind.
She married twice, but chose not to become a mother of any chubby babies herself as she was supporting her large family with her work.
Bonniebrook in the Missouri Ozarks (Taney County) was Rose's favorite home. At the height of her career, she purchased other homes in New York, Connecticut, and in Italy. Near the west side of Bonniebrook, a small brook gurgled its way downstream which was said to have inspired the name for her home. At the top of the house was Rose O'Neill's studio, filled with treasures from friends and family. Her unusual, but favorite mode of dress for the times were blousy aprons or kimonos over a Greek style tunic.
In the spring of 1944, Rose died of heart failure at the age of 69. She was buried near her family and Bonniebrook.
For Your Info: While I find Rose's Kewpies appealing, some of her other illustrations I find dark and disturbing.
More to Read:
1.) Rose O'Neill: An Autobiography. Edited by Miriam Formanek-Brunell.University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Mo; 1997.
1.) Rose O'Neill: An Autobiography. Edited by Miriam Formanek-Brunell.University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Mo; 1997.
2.) American Illustrator: Rose O'Neill. By J. L. Wilkerson. 2001
3.) Collecting Rose O'Neill's Kewpies. by David O'Neill and Janet O'Neill Sullivan. 2003.
5.) Kewpies and Beyond: The World of Rose O'Neill. By Shelley Armitage. 1994.
6.) Rose O'Neill - The Girl Who Loved to Draw by Linda Brewster. 2009.
7.) Representative Women. By Lois Oldham Henrici. 1913.
8.) The Kewpie Primer. By Elizabeth V. Quinn. Illustrated by Rose O'Neill. Frederick A. Stokes Co, New York. 1916.
9.) Titans and Kewpies: The Life and Art of Rose O'Neill. By Ralph Alan McCanse.
10.) The Adventures of the Kewpies: A Coloring Book. Saalfield Publishing Co, 1962.
11.) Missouri newspapers at Chronicling America
12.) Findagrave #21784408
Places to Visit:
1.) Branson's Kewpiesta in April.
2.) Drury University: The Rose O'Neill House, 900 North Benton Ave, Springfield
3.) Nelson-Atkins' Collections, 4525 Oak Street, Kansas City (2 pieces of Kewpie art)
1.) Branson's Kewpiesta in April.
2.) Drury University: The Rose O'Neill House, 900 North Benton Ave, Springfield
3.) Nelson-Atkins' Collections, 4525 Oak Street, Kansas City (2 pieces of Kewpie art)
4.) O'Neill Museum, 485 Rose O'Neill Road, Walnut Shade, Mo.
5.) Ralph Foster Museum, College of the Ozarks, 1 Cultural Court, Point Lookout (south of Branson)
"Do good deeds in a funny way. The world needs to laugh or
at least smile more than it does."
~ Rose O'Neill
Biography written by Dolores J. Rush. Updated: 2/5/2020
