Art collectors know Maud Humphrey (1868-1940) as one of the best female illustrators of first half of 20th century, other as a mother of famous actor Humphrey Bogart (although he was not supposed to call her mother because it was too conservative for her).
Believe it or not, Maud Humphrey was much more famous and successful than her son till the very end of her life. Here is one fine example of her work:
The illustration comes from George McDonald's book The Light Princess and Other Fairy Tales, to be more specific from the fairy tale Giant's Heart. If we look at it more closely, we can notice illustrator's signature in lower right corner.
Maud Humphrey used her maiden name, name of old and reputable family, through her all artistic career and this was one of the reasons for many disputes with her husband, successful surgeon, who was also proud of his family background but raised in more conservative spirit. Yes, it is fair to mention his name too: Dr. Belmont De Forest Bogart. now you know how maybe the greatest of all American movie actors got his screen name.
Maud used her only son as a model for series of commercials for Mellin's baby food - dressed in girl's clothes (Victorian style), because she needed a girl and both of his sisters were born only later.
Maud Humphrey Bogart was successful illustrator of children's book, magazines, calendars, postcards and commercials (from soap to life insurance) who easily surpassed her husband's earnings (about 20 thousand a year, what was A LOT in those days) for more than double.
O.k., I should stop before I dig into really detailed story about her private life. Maud Humphrey was great talent with first class education who was in the right time in the right place and made the maximum of this mixture of opportunities.
Believe it or not, Maud Humphrey was much more famous and successful than her son till the very end of her life. Here is one fine example of her work:
The illustration comes from George McDonald's book The Light Princess and Other Fairy Tales, to be more specific from the fairy tale Giant's Heart. If we look at it more closely, we can notice illustrator's signature in lower right corner.
Maud Humphrey used her maiden name, name of old and reputable family, through her all artistic career and this was one of the reasons for many disputes with her husband, successful surgeon, who was also proud of his family background but raised in more conservative spirit. Yes, it is fair to mention his name too: Dr. Belmont De Forest Bogart. now you know how maybe the greatest of all American movie actors got his screen name.
Maud used her only son as a model for series of commercials for Mellin's baby food - dressed in girl's clothes (Victorian style), because she needed a girl and both of his sisters were born only later.
Maud Humphrey Bogart was successful illustrator of children's book, magazines, calendars, postcards and commercials (from soap to life insurance) who easily surpassed her husband's earnings (about 20 thousand a year, what was A LOT in those days) for more than double.
O.k., I should stop before I dig into really detailed story about her private life. Maud Humphrey was great talent with first class education who was in the right time in the right place and made the maximum of this mixture of opportunities.
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