$8,295
Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855-1942) Portrait of Joseph B. Thomas III Signed and dedicated "To my friend/ J.B. Thomas/ Cecilia Beaux" l.l. Charcoal on paper, sight size 21 x 13 1/2 in. (53.3 x 34.3 cm), framed. Condition: Toning. N.B. A letter from Beaux to Thomas dated February 1914, two photographic reproductions of the drawing (one pencil signed by Beaux and the other initaled by J.B. Thomas III) and an initialed photograph of the artist accompanies the lot. Cecilia Beaux was one of the most admired portrait painters of the turn of the 20th century. Educated in Philadelphia and in Paris, she was the first full-time female instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. She had a very active career and was among the celebrated members of the national and international artistic community of her time. In a letter from Cecilia Beaux that accompanies this lot (dated Feb. 1914 and written on stationery bearing the address 20 Gramercy Park), the artist addressed the sitter as "Dear Neighbor." She wrote that she had signed the drawing and left it for him to find when he got back. Beaux goes on to say that she may "…sometime bother you to lend me the drawing to appease the Exhibition Wolf, which is always growling about my door…" The artist compared the sitter to "the daring son of the Captain of the Bucentaure" (the French flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar). The letter is signed, "Your long-winded but true friend and neighbor, C.B." Deckled top edge, trim
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2010-01-29
