At the turn of the 20th century, Maud Humphrey was one of the most popular commercial illustrators in the United States. She specialized in images of cheerful, rosy-cheeked children that appeared in books, magazines, greeting cards, and calendars. Starting at age 12, she studied privately in Rochester, New York, before moving to New York to attend the Art Students League in 1885. She worked for children's publications and for the publisher Frederick A. Stokes Company. In 1891, she traveled to Paris to study at the Academie Julian and with James McNeil Whistler. Humphrey's charming babies promoted products like Ivory Soap and Mellin Baby Food and featured in books of poems and fairy tales. In 1898 she married Dr. Belmont Deforest Bogart, a heart and lung surgeon, and their three children included the actor Humphrey Bogart. Maud Humphrey continued to work throughout her marriage, at times earning more than twice her husband's salary. After the death of her husband, when her son had become a successful actor, she moved to an apartment on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where she continued to produce greeting cards.
