Cecilia Beaux

One of the most famous American painters of her time and a near contemporary of the
equally famous Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in
1855. She showed interest in painting from an early age, and started to paint in porcelain
and lithographs while still young. In 1876 she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts and after she had finished her studies there she decided to take a course in
porcelain painting at the National Art Training School.
In 1888, after having had success in her hometown thanks to her first large canvas 1,
she decided to go to France for further training. She only spent a year in Europe, but the
influence in her use of colors is evident in her later work. After she returned to her
hometown she began to paint portraits, especially of prominent people and the elite of
Philadelphia. During this time she became a very productive artist; she had her own studio
and decided not to marry to give art all her attention.
In 1895 she became a teacher in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She
had her work exhibited in Europe and the United States, being by then a well-known artist
in both parts of the world. She moved to New York, where she worked during winter and
spent summer in Gloucester2 around 1900 and thanks to her friend A. Piatt Andrew she met
some of the most renowned people of the time. She received several awards for her
portraits during the years that followed.
In 1919 she went back to Paris, where she broke her hip, which made it impossible
for her to be as prolific as before. In 1930 she became a member of the National Institute of
Arts and Letters, and during the same year she published her autobiography. Three years
later, the First Lady of the United Stated awarded her for being the American woman who
had made the greatest contribution to the culture of the world. Beaux died in 1942 in
Gloucester.

1 Anonymous. National Museum of Women in the Arts

2 Cecilia Beaux papers, 1863-1968 Archives of American Arts

Bibliography:
Cecilia

Beaux

papers,

1863-1968

Archives

of

American

Art

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/cecilia-beaux-papers-5882/more
Anonymous.

National

Museum

of

Women

http://www.nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/cecilia-beaux

Paintings
Online Galleries:
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?
http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?

in

the

Arts.