Dorothea and Francesca

Creator Name

Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855–1942);
Cecilia Beaux

Cultural Context

--

Date

1898

About the work

Art Institute of Chicago Object Description

Cecilia Beaux explored the line between portraiture and figure painting in Dorothea and Francesca, which focuses less on the individuality of the sitters and more on their coordinated movements. The composition features two children of Beaux’s friends Helena de Kay and Richard Watson Gilder, an influential couple in New York’s cultural scene. A double portrait of the daughters engaged in a dancing lesson, the work visually evokes the transition from girlhood to adolescence.

A female artist competing for portrait commissions in the male-dominated art market of the turn of the 20th century, Beaux fared exceedingly well. She was also an influential teacher, becoming the first woman to secure a faculty position at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Work details

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Title

Dorothea and Francesca

Creator

Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855–1942);
Cecilia Beaux

Worktype

Painting; painting; american arts

Cultural Context

--

Material

Oil on canvas; oil paint (paint); organic material

Dimensions

203.5 × 116.8 cm (80 1/8 × 46 in.)

Technique

--

Language

--

Date

1898

Provenance

A. A. Munger Collection; Cecilia Beaux, New York, and Gloucester, MA, from 1898 to 1922; the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

Style Period

Impressionism

Rights

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Public Domain
Public Domain

Inscription

Signed, lower left: "Cecilia Beaux"

Location

Massachusetts

Subjects

fashion; dancers; families; portraits; children; people

Topic

--

All Works in Curationist’s archives can be reproduced and used freely. How to attribute this Work:

Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855–1942), Dorothea and Francesca, 1898, Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

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