The Widow's mite (1914)

This page presents "The Widow's mite" (1914), created by William Henry Walker. Illustration, a short history: Illustration serves a text or a story, a tradition that runs from decorated medieval manuscripts to printed book plates, magazines, and posters. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are often described as a golden age of book and magazine illustration. Historical background, 1914: Dada and Surrealism followed the First World War, the Bauhaus school was founded in 1919, and Art Deco became the fashionable decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s. The first decades of the twentieth century were a period of rapid experiment, with Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, and the first abstract painting appearing within a few years of each other. It is listed in the Illustration collection. The image is in square orientation.

On onlly.art "The Widow's mite" is sold as a digital download (Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI). The files are delivered by email after payment, so nothing is shipped: you print locally, choosing the paper, size, and frame yourself. A square format is flexible and works well on its own or as part of a grid on a gallery wall. Illustrative graphics are valued for their decorative line work and narrative quality, which makes them a strong fit for gallery walls, kids rooms, studies, and more intimate interiors. Before printing, compare the proportions of the file with your frame so that nothing important is cropped. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks. Choosing a standard frame size and printing to fit it often saves the cost of custom framing. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size.

American, 1871–1938

If you like the visual language of William Henry Walker, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.