May Wilson Preston

Mary (May) Wilson Watkins Preston (August 11, 1873 – May 18, 1949) was an American illustrator of books and magazines and an impressionist painter. She had an interest in art beginning in her teenage years, but her parents sent her to Oberlin College hoping that she would develop another interest. After three years, and at the urging of one of her teachers, Preston's parents allowed her to return to New York and attend the Art Students League. She then studied in Paris with James Whistler and next at the New York School of Art with William Merritt Chase.

Following the death of her first husband, Thomas Henry Watkins, Preston embarked on a career as an illustrator to support herself. She socialized and exhibited with artists of the Ashcan School and married one of the group, James Moore Preston, in 1903. They traveled to Europe together, summered on Long Island, and co-illustrated a magazine story. She became a successful illustrator for magazines, such as Harper's Bazaar and The Saturday Evening Post, and was a successful book illustrator. Considered one of the top women illustrators between 1900 and 1940, Preston was one of the few female members and exhibitors of the Society of Illustrators, having been admitted March 29, 1904, after peers Florence Scovel Shinn, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Violet Oakley, and Jessie Willcox Smith. Like them, she was only an Associate Member since full membership was not allowed for women until the 1920s. She exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show and won a medal at the Panama–Pacific Exposition in 1915. Preston was one of the major suffrage artists. Her works are in a number of museum collections. She played herself a chapter of the film serial Our Mutual Girl that was shown in theaters in 1915.

Early life Mary Wilson was born on August 28, 1873, in New York City. She was the only child Preston was one of the founders of the country's oldest women's fine arts organization, the Women's Art Club, at the age of 16.

Education She was a "high spirited girl" whose parents tried to dissuade her from becoming and artist and sent her to Oberlin College She studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1892 through 1897

Marriage In 1898 she married Thomas Henry Watkins, who died in 1900. In 1903 May Wilson Watkins married artist James Moore Preston, Preston began illustrating in 1900 and the following year her works were published in Harper's Bazaar. She was considered one of the top woman illustrators between 1900 and 1939. Others were Elizabeth Shippen Green, Jessie Willcox Smith, and Violet Oakley. Preston became the first, and for years the only, woman to be an associate member and exhibitor at the Society of Illustrators. Preston also showed her work with the artists of the informal Ashcan School. Preston was one of the postcard artists for the movement. From 1902 to 1915, it was a pastime of many Americans to collect postcards. She was a judge to select artwork for 300 billboard across the state of New York. John French Sloan and F. Luis Mora were the other judges.

Preston was a co-illustrator with her husband, James Moore Preston, on the "Our Horse" story printed in a 1910 edition of Everybody's Magazine. The landmark Armory Show of 1913 included one of Preston's oil paintings, Girl with print. She won an award at the Panama–Pacific Exposition in 1915. Preston played herself in the movie Our Mutual Girl which was shown in theaters in 1915.

In 1920, Preston illustrated two F. Scott Fitzgerald stories for The Saturday Evening Post: Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Myra Meets His Family. She also illustrated stories published in the Post by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Her drawings illustrated articles by Ring Lardner and P. G. Wodehouse.

Collections Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington Free Library of Philadelphia, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Library of Congress, Division of Prints & Photographs, Washington D.C. Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Florida National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut

Works Illustrated books

The following is a short list of 41 books at the Library of Congress for Preston:

Him (1915). How it Feels to be the Husband of a Suffragette Illustrations by May Wilson Preston. New York : George H. Doran Company. LCCN 15015726.