Kewpies scolding a little girl

Kewpies scolding a little girl
Kewpies scolding a little girl

Kewpies scolding a little girl

DateDecember 1912
Artist (American artist, cartoonist, and writer 1874–1944)
Illustration CitationFrom "The Kewps and Stern Irene," Woman's Home Companion, December 1912
MediumInk and graphite on paper
Dimensionssheet: 12 7/16 × 18 5/8 in. (31.6 × 47.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Rose O'Neill Foundation, 2018
Object number2018-79
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextRose O'Neill's elfin characters in this drawing are Kewpies, creations she described as benevolent creatures "who (do) good deeds in a funny way." Here, they express their disappointment at the naughty behavior of a little girl. The laughing Kewpie at left is more indulgent.

After their 1909 debut in the Ladies Home Journal, the Kewpies - derived from the small Cupids that decorated O'Neill's illustrations of love stories - appeared in various magazines and advertisements and then gained more popularity through a plethora of licensed merchandise and books. The Kewpie enterprise, which began to wane toward the end of the 1930s, made O'Neill a wealthy and independent woman.

Although the Kewpies were originally all identical, O'Neill later included some with individual characters. There are two here: one with a pith helmet, and a soldier with a rifle.