Mel Crawford: Edith Wharton

Artist: Mel Crawford
1925 -
Nationality: Canadian
Artwork Year: 1980
Image Size: 12.5 by 14.25 inches
Overall Size: 15 by 17.625 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Hot Press Illustration Board

Born on January 24, 1862, Edith Wharton enjoyed a childhood common to 19th century New York's socially prominent families. Privately educated, she often felt lonely and isolated and so she made up stories to amuse herself. Like many wealthy Americans of the day, Edith's family included travel to Europe in the schedule of regular entertainment and it was here that she further developed the wide imagination and curiosity which enriched her writing in later years. But, as she grew older, her life followed more predictable patterns and, at the age of 23, she married Edward Wharton, a Boston banker. The next few years were not happy ones, however. As a therapeutic measure, she soon took up her writing again. From 1889 to 1899 she experienced a period of lonely and hesitant growth in both her personal and literary life. She once noted that during this time, her writing became a "secret garden" into which she could withdraw her most private self. In the 1890's she began to contribute short stories and poems to Scribner's Magazine, and by the turn of the century she was publishing short stories and novels for a wide audience. Edith Wharton is especially noted for stories about society, in which she depicted the dignity and good taste of the old social order as compared with the "dog-eat-dog" characteristics of the newer elite. She is perhaps best known for the novelette Ethan Frome, published in 1911 and her novel The Age of Innocence (1920) for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® First Day Cover of the U.S. 15¢ Edith Wharton stamp issued September 5, 1980.

Artwork Copyright © 1980 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB06149

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