Dorothea and Francesca

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

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, a prominent 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.

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