Peck, Clara Elsene (American, 1883-1968) Gouache watercolor painting on artist board. Theatre Magazine Illustration Cover Art of Dancing Couple at the Ball. Signed lower left Clara Elsene Peck. In good condition. Painting is the original illustration for Theatre Magazine and came from the same Shelter Island, New York artist estate as the other “Theatre Magazine” cover art illustrations being offered. Measures 18 ” x 14 ”. Frame measures 30 ” x 22 ” .

From Askart.com: Clara Elsene Peck was noted as an illustrator who specialized in presentations of women and children. Her work was mainly decorative in composition and sensitive in portrayal. She illustrated fictional articles for St. Nicholas Magazine, Century, and Collier's. The artist also did advertising campaigns for Procter & Gamble, Aeolian Company, Metropolitan Life and numerous others. In addition, she did numerous book illustrations, notably Josephine Daskam's In Border Country (1909). She was born in Allegan, Michigan, in 1883. The family soon moved to Minneapolis where she grew up. Her formal artistic training began at the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts. She later attended the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and also studied with William Merritt Chase in New York. Married by 1910 - her married name was Williams - she maintained her home in Palisades Park, New Jersey. She was a member of the American Water Color Society. Of her art she stated: "With me the desire to become an artist has been strong since childhood. Other members of the family in previous generations were artists, making the love and joy in creative expression a natural one to me."

Biographical information excerpted from The Illustrator in America. Compiled by Walt Reed, 1966.