BEAUX, Cecilia - b. 1855 Philadelphia, d. 1942 Gloucester - WGA

BEAUX, Cecilia

(b. 1855 Philadelphia, d. 1942 Gloucester)

American painter. She began her career painting on porcelain and producing lithographs and portrait drawings. She studied with Catharine Ann Drinker (1871), Francis Adolf van der Wielen (1872-73) and Camille Piton (1879), at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia (1877-78), and privately with William Sartain (1881-83). Under Sartain’s guidance, she learnt to paint, producing her first major portrait, the Last Days of Infancy (1883-5; private collection). She completed her art training in Paris at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colorossi (1888-89). She had the coaching of painters like Robert-Fleury, Bouguereau and Dagnan Bouveret.

In 1890 she exhibited at the Paris Exposition. Returning to Philadelphia, she obtained in 1893 the gold medal of the Philadelphia Art Club, and also the Dodge prize at the New York National Academy, and later various other distinctions. She became a member of the National Academy of Design, New York, in 1902. Among her portraits are those of Bishop-Coadjutor Greer (exhibited at the Salon in 1896); Mrs Roosevelt and her daughter; and Mrs Larz Anderson. Her Dorothea and Francesca, and Ernesta and her Little Brother, are good examples of her skill in painting children.

Charles Sumner Bird and His Sister Edith Bird Bass

The Bird Corporation, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1995, produced high-quality paper. In 1812, the company was chosen to produce the paper that the new nation’s currency was printed on. When Charles graduated from Harvard he joined the company. Eccentric is the word used to describe him; he often spent his evenings at home, performing experiments in his kitchen. In 1880, a devastating fire, followed by the worst flood in Massachusetts’ history, left only the equipment that could produce coarse paper unharmed. Charles used his kitchen laboratory to invent new products, of which were roofing papers, and the company became even stronger.

Edith was an eminent member of Boston society. She was also active in hunt circles, which may be why Beaux chose to portray Charles and Edith in their hunting attire. Edith married Robert P. Bass, then the governor of New Hampshire, in 1912.

This portrait of Charles and Edith displays the close relationship they must have shared. They are turned slightly toward each other, and the viewer seems to have interrupted their private conversation. Edith is dressed mostly in white, a colour that Beaux was famously skilled at employing. Her black skirt and boots, a dramatic contrast, anchor her to the floor and mirror her brother’s black riding boots. Charles, pulling his glove from his pocket, seems to have a bit of contempt for the viewer or perhaps is merely impatient at having to wait and be painted while there is more interesting and important work to be done.

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Man with a Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker)

Henry Sturgis Drinker (1850-1937) was a mechanical engineer who used his skills to help engineer the two mile long Musconetcong Tunnel, which made railroad travel between Easton, Pennsylvania and New York City possible. He was also the president of Lehigh University from 1905 to 1920. Drinker was Cecilia Beaux’s brother-in-law.

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