Lot 589: Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855-1942) A Lady in Black, alternately titled Mrs. D Signed "Cecilia Beaux." l.l., identified on labels fr...

Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855-1942)

A Lady in Black, alternately titled Mrs. D
Signed "Cecilia Beaux." l.l., identified on labels from Arden Studios, Inc., New
York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, affixed to the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 78 1/4 x 47 1/2 in. (198.7 x 120.6 cm), framed.
Condition: Retouch.

Provenance: The artist; Alfred I. du Pont, Wilmington, Deleware; to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, 1921, gift of Alfred I. du Pont; deaccessioned from the Museum of Fine Arts; Skinner, Inc., May 19, 2006, Sale 2320, Lot 351.

N.B. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1885, Beaux emerged as one of the most celebrated female artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the age of 16 she enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where she specialized in portrait painting. She then traveled to Paris from 1877-78 to continue her studies at the Academie Julian and the Academie Colorossi, where she studied with French Salon greats William Bouguereau and Robert Tony Fleury. Upon her return to America in 1895 she accepted a position to teach at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, a position she would hold for two decades. By 1902, she was recognized as one of the premiere portrait painters in America and won full membership into the National Academy. She respected fellow portrait artist John Singer Sargent yet regarded him as a true rival of her style, although one can observe noticeable similarities between these two artists' brush techniques and color palette.