Product Description
A Chronicle of th establishment of the Union. Sepia frontispiece George Washington at the 1787 convention in Philadelphia. From a photograph of the mural painting by Violet Oakley in the Pennsylvania State Capital, Harrisburg. Allen Johnson Editor. Textbook edition. Appears to be first edition with no other copyright date listed. ... Read more

Product Description
Illustrators Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935) and Elizabeth Shippen Green (1871-1954), and muralist Violet Oakley (1874-1961) captivated early-20th-century society with their brilliant careers and uncommon lifestyle. This richly illustrated biography traces the lives of these three talented women, who took over the Red Rose Inn, a picturesque old estate on Philadelphia's Main Line, and made a pact to live together forever-until one of them created havoc by leaving the fold to marry.

Revealing a household of intimate friendship, mutual inspiration, shared ideas, and love, The Red Rose Girls unfolds against a backdrop of the emerging women's rights movement in an era when female sexuality was still little understood or publicly acknowledged. It is an unforgettable story of three extraordinary women artists who achieved success on their own terms.

Full-color reproductions of the Red Rose Girls' artwork and wonderful archival photographs bring these women and their milieu to life.

175 illustrations, 60 in full color, 8 1/2 x 11"

ALICE A. CARTER is a professor at the School of Art and Design at San Jos State University. An award-winning illustrator who has done extensive work in the entertainment industry and in advertising, she is also the author of The Art of National Geographic.Amazon.com Review
Alice Carter's The Red Rose Girls traces the lives of three talented artists: Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley. After studying together under the sympathetic guidance of Howard Pyle in Philadelphia, the three (all youngest siblings) decided that they could work best away from the distractions of the city. In 1900, they established their home and studios in a rambling country house called the Red Rose Inn, leading Pyle to dub them the "Red Rose Girls." Strengthened by the emotional support and artistic inspiration that each gave the others, their careers blossomed. Green was a successful illustrator, especially for Harper's Magazine; Smith produced charming portraits of children; and Oakley was famous for huge murals commissioned to decorate state buildings. With their friend Henrietta Cozens acting as "housewife," their unconventional living arrangement attracted much interest, not all of it positive. Carter, a professor at San Jose State University, claims that it freed them from the domestic responsibilities and isolation that could cripple an artist, especially a female artist in pre-emancipated society. For eight years the four led an almost idyllic existence of genteel lifestyle and artistic productivity, but eventually the group disintegrated, with Green's marriage causing an especially painful break. Carter's sympathetic, easy prose perfectly complements the women's idealized art and their uncomplicated belief in the goodness of life. Combining delightful photographs of their domestic lives with examples of their work, The Red Rose Girls re-creates a vanished world of optimism and grace. --John Stevenson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

One of my favorites
The pictures are beautiful and the story is even better. I bought this book not knowing who these three artists were and they quickly became three of my favorites. A must for artists (especially female).

Great book about artists and friendship...
Some great reproductions here too, of some Pre-Raphaelite-style art from the Philadelphia area about 100 years ago. Violet spent over 25 years painting huge celebrations of the founding of Pennsylvania in the Harrirburg State Capitol. She may not ne Michaelangelo, but is not far behind his Sistine Chapel! This small coffee table book will never go out of style, and does a great job bringing back 3 great lady artists!

Informative and Entertaining
I bought this book with the idea of finding out more of the types of relationships women shared at the beginning of the twentieth century.I was astonished to find more than I bargained for.The Red Rose Girls provided more than insight into these relationships, it also provided a look inside the rise and fall of the progressive and arts and crafts movements.Pre Freud, the relationship of these woman was accepted and cherished as they lived together, and created their art.Post Freud, their relationships deteriorated as did their careers.All in all I found this book extremely entertaining, as well as heartening (a forty year relationship between two of the women) and the pictures are absolutely beautiful.If nothing else, as an art book it is extraordinary.

An Amazing Achievement
It was some months ago when I discovered and read Ms. Carter's lush tale of four intertwined lives. I still remember the regret and exhiliaration I felt on turning the final page.
Not wanting a story to end is perhaps among the higher compliments I would pay to a book, and usually one relegated to a rare work of fiction. In fact, prior to Red Rose Girls, Donna Tartt's masterpiece, The Secret History was my lonely sole contender for this sort of accolade. To add my name to the chorous of other reviews teetered on redundancy, lily-gilding or worse....gushing. But then, we New Englanders are a stiff lot, and loathe to such displays.
It was interesting then, to trip over a Feb. 8th review in which a reader, also from my birthplace, expressed some criticism of Carter's speculation on the probable physical nature of the characters relationship, finding it presumptuous and distracting. (my words)
It was precisely the lack of any undue focus on lesbianism, alongside a riveting collection of photographs, that caught my attention and held it for the duration. Throughout this fascinating account crept a quiet, matter-of-fact, stylistic elegance that kept my attention firmly on the place and the times, on three lives dedicated to art, on four lives dedicated to each other. Brava!

An Amazing Achievement!
I discovered and read Ms. Carter's lush tale of four intertwined lives some months ago and still remember my regret mixed with exhiliaration at turning the last page. Not wanting a book to end is probably among the higher compliments a reader can pay to fiction; to end a nonfictionalstory feeling thus, is rare indeed. Prior to RRG, Donna Tartt's fictional masterpiece "The Secret History" was my lonely, sole contender for this sort of accolade...
... It was precisely the lack of any undue focus on the women's probable physical intimacy, alongside a riveting collection of photographs that immediately caught my attention and held it. Throughout the whole of this story crept a quiet, matter-of-fact, stylistic elegance that kept this readers attention first and foremost on the place and the times, on three lives dedicated to art, on four women dedicated to each other. Brava! ... Read more