Cecilia Beaux

Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American artist. She is best known for her portraits which were painted in the Impressionist style.

Beaux was born on May 1, 1855 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She did not have education at formal art schools. She was taught to paint by members of her family. She learned more about painting from the artists William Sartain and Adolf van der Whelen. 

In 1883 Beaux started painting  (the last days of infancy). She showed the painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1885. It won a prize there. It was also accepted to be shown at the 1887 Paris Salon. This painting made her important in the United States and France. 

In 1895 the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts hired Beaux to teach art. She was the first woman to teach there. She taught there until 1915.

From 1888 to 1889 Beaux traveled to Europe. She learned more about painting at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1898 she moved to New York. She also bought a summer house in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She was paid to make portraits of many famous Americans. 

Beaux died on September 17, 1942 in Gloucester.

Beaux's work is in many museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts,  and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In 1995 the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC held a retrospective exhibition of her work.

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 References 

Category:1855 births
Category:1942 deaths
Category:People from Philadelphia
Category:American painters