The Last of Summer by Nell Brinkley

I have cleaned this lovely cartoon butterfly girl by illustrator, Nell Brinkley. Brinkley has long since flown from the earth but her work is still just as endearing. If you'd like to see more of it, I could include a category here at this blog of her work only. She really was quite a popular artist in the early 20th Century. What do you think?

Nell Brinkley Says:

      Butterflies go with the ending of Summer ---butterfly girls go with the ending of the gay night that is their lives. Butterflies grow rare and at last do not flicker gold anywhere, when the sumac turns scarlet and the aspen on the far hills changes into little golden coins; butterfly girls vanish and are no more dimples and sparkle and laughter when there is no more fun to have, when the lights are out and real work comes. But I love a golden butterfly in the sun; and who doesn't joy to watch the butterfly girl dance her way through the sober faces and the earnest!

      Somebody said, " A butterfly lives but a day-- and what if that day is rainy!" So, little butterfly girl whose day is so short, may it be sunny and clear.

More About Illustrator Nell Brinkley:

• Biography and sample illustrated medallions by Brinkley