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A woman with pale skin and dressed in white sits on a couch gazing into the distance to our left as she raises one arm to stroke a black cat perched on her shoulder in this vertical portrait. Shown from the lap up, the woman’s dress has voluminous, puffed, elbow-length sleeves and a high collar, and her narrow waist is cinched with a white sash. Her dark brown hair is parted down the middle and tied back, and she has pale blue eyes and pink lips. She reaches up to the cat with her left hand, on our right, and her other hand, farther from us, rests flat in her lap. The black cat looks at us with greenish-yellow eyes as it almost disappears into the dark brown background above the white couch, which is decorated with a blue pattern. The artist signed the work with dark letters in the lower left corner: “Cecilia Beaux.”

Cecilia Beaux

Sita and Sarita, c. 1921

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 69

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 113.3 × 83.8 cm (44 5/8 × 33 in.)

framed: 134.9 × 103.5 × 8.3 cm (53 1/8 × 40 3/4 × 3 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund)

Accession Number

2014.79.1

Artists / Makers

Cecilia Beaux (painter) American, 1855 - 1942

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Overview

This portrait by Cecilia Beaux portrays the artist's cousin, Sarah Allibone Leavitt, dressed in white with her black cat on her shoulder. Beaux was recognized not only for her bold painting technique, but also for her ability to imbue her female subjects with wit and intelligence, rendering them more than just mere objects of beauty. A student in Paris in the late 1880s, the artist was influenced by her firsthand exposure to French impressionism. Her light-filled palette and gestural style invite comparisons with many of her contemporaries, including William Merritt Chase, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Mary Cassatt.

The sitter's white dress, for instance, evokes Whistler's infamous 1862 painting of Joanna Hiffernan, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (National Gallery of Art, Washington). The formal connection between the two paintings demonstrates Beaux's knowledge of Whistler's painting. Additionally, the direct gaze of the black cat perched on Sarah's shoulder references Edouard Manet's painting Olympia (1865, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), in which a similarly posed black cat sits at the foot of Olympia's bed. These connections suggest that Beaux intended to reveal more with this portrait than simply her mastery of painting technique. The enigmatic title of the painting may represent Manet's influence—Beaux's use of Spanish diminutives, Sarita for Sarah and Sita, meaning "little one," for the cat, acknowledges the late 19th-century popularity of Spanish painting, championed by Manet. The present work is a replica of the original painted in 1893 and displayed in the 1895 Society of American Artists exhibition in New York. Before donating the original to the Musée de Luxembourg in Paris (now in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris), Beaux recorded that she made a second painting for her "own satisfaction when the original went to France for good."

Inscription

lower left: Cecilia Beaux

Provenance

Collection of the artist, New York; (Grand Central Art Galleries, New York); purchased 1923 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Beaux, Cecilia
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Grand Central Art Galleries

Exhibition History

1922: Probably Arden Gallery, New York, 1922.

1923: Exhibition of Eminent Women Painters, Plastic Club, Philadelphia, January 1923.

1923: Ninth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, December 1923 - January 1924, no. 105, as Girl with Cat.

1935: An Exhibition of Paintings by Cecilia Beaux, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 1935-1936, no. 17.

1939: Loan Exhibition from the Corcoran Gallery of Art: Selected Group of Twenty American Painters, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, March-April 1939, unnumbered checklist.

1940: Modern Painting Isms and How They Grew, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1940, unnumbered checklist.

1955: The One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1955, no. 134.

1963: The Romantic Century, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1963.

1965: Women Artists of America, 1707-1964, Newark Museum, 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1966: Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, unpublished checklist.

1972: Women: A Historical Survey of Works by Women Artists, Salem Fine Arts Center, Winston Salem; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh,1972, no. 27.

1974: Cecilia Beaux: Portrait of an Artist, Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center; Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1974-1975, no. 42.

1976: Women Artists: 1550–1950, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; Brooklyn Museum, 1976-1977, no. 101.

1978: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 26 April - 16 July 1978, unnumbered catalogue.

1984: Woman, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, 1984, no. 49.

1995: Cecilia Beaux and the Art of Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 1995-1996, no. 13.

1998: The Forty-Fifth Biennial: The Corcoran Collects, 1907–1998, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 17 July - 29 September 1998, unnumbered catalogue.

2002: Gilded Cage: Views of American Women, 1873–1921, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002, unpublished checklist.

2003: The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004, unpublished checklist.

2005: Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 80.

2008: The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.

2009: American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June - 18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.

2013: American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

n.d.: Corcoran Gallery of Art Archives, Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University Libraries, Washington, DC: correspondence between Erwin S. Barrie and C.Powell Minnigerode, 18 and 21 December 1923; correspondence between Cecilia Beaux and C.Powell Minnigerode, 11, 19, and 28 June and 11 July 1935; RG 2, Office of the Director records; Series 2, Minnigerode and Williams records, 1908-1968.

n.d.: "Portraits by Cecilia Beaux in New York Loan Exhibition [exh. review]." 21 April, newspaper clipping; Cecilia Beaux Papers, reel 429, frame 334; Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

1923: "At the Corcoran Gallery." Boston Evening Transcript (29 December 1923): Book section: 8.

1923: Burroughs, Clyde H. "Director Burroughs Gives Impressions of Big Show." The Detroit News (30 December 1923): 12.

1923: D.G. "The Plastic Club, Philadelphia [exh. review]." Christian Science Monitor (23 January 1923): 6.

1923: Mechlin, Leila. "Notes of Art and Artists [exh.review]." The Washington Star (16 December 1923): 2: 13.

1923: Mechlin, Leila. "Notes of Art and Artists." The Washington Star (23 December 1923):2: 20, repro.

1923: Mechlin, Leila. "The North Window." The Washington Post (20 December 1923): 6.

1923: Merrick, Lula. "In the World of Art exh. review]." New York Morning Telegraph (23 December 1923): 9.

1923: "The Corcoran Biennial Exhibition Opens To-Day in Washinton [exh. review]." New York World (16 Dcember 1923): 8: E.

1923: "The Gallery Buys 11 Pictures on Show." The Washington Evening Star (19 December 1923): 3.

1924: Flambeau, Viktor. "Public Votes This Week on Prize Picture: Corcoran Biennial Exhibition Visitors Willl Select Their Favorites." The Washington Herald (6 January 1924): March of Events section: 5.

1924: Mechlin, Leila. "Contemporary American Painting: Ninth Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art [exh. review]." American Magazine of Art 15, no. 2 (February 1924): 67, 71, repro., 72.

1924: "Six Modern American Portrait Painters." Mentor 12, no. 9 (October 1924): 43, repro.

1930: Beaux, Cecilia. Background with Figures. New York, 1930: Opposite 88, repro.

1935: Cortissoz, Royal. "The Portraiture of Miss Cecilia Beaux [exh. review]." New York Herald Tribune (1 December 1935): 5: 10.

1935: Mechlin, Leila. "One of Events of Season [exh. review]." The Washington Star ( 24 November 1935): F: 4.

1939: Lewis, Elisabeth Ray. "Museum Treasure of the Week: The Corcoran Gallery Collection in Review: 'Contemporary Artists.'" The Washington Post (17 September 1939): A: 5.

1939: Mechlin, Leila. "Corcoran Gellry of Art: Painting by Ceicila Beaux Now on View." The Washington Star (31 December 1939): E: 5.

1942: "Art Exhibits." This Week in the Nation's Capital 20, no. 33 (9 August 1942): 6, repro.

1942: Berryman, Florence S. "Great Artists Lately Deceased." Washington Star (4 October 1942): E: 5.

1942: "Cecilia Beaux Dies; A Portrait Artist." The New York Times (18 September 1942): 21

1942: "Cecilia Beaux Dies, Noted Painter, is Dead at 87." The New York Herald Tribune (18 September 1942): 18.

1942: "Cecilia Beaux." The Washington Evening Star (19 September 1942): A: 8.

1947: Corcoran Gallery of Art. Handbook of the American Paintings in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1947: 61.

1955: Drinker, Henry S. The Paintings and Drawings of Cecilia Beaux. Philadelphia, 1955: 96, 97, repro., 98.

1972: Phillips, Dorothy W. "Beauty in Years Past: A Fascintating Account of how Artists Perceived Feminine Good Looks at the Turn of the Century." National Retired Teachers Association (May/June 1972): 20, inside back cover.

1972: Price, Vincent. The Vincent Price Treasury of American Art. Waukesha, Wisconsin, 1972: 308, repro.

1973: Phillips, Dorothy W. A Catalogue of the Collection of American Paintings in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vol. 2: Painters born from 1850 to 1910. Washington, 1973: 57-59, repro. 58.

1974: Hill, Frederick D. "Cecilia Beaux, The Grande Dame of American Portraiture." Magazine Antiques 105, no. 1 (January 1974): 164, repro.

1975: Evans, Dorinda. "Cecilia Beaux, Portraits [exh. review]." American Art Review 2, no. 1 (January-February 1975): 101, repro.

1975: Stein, Judith E. "Profile of Cecilia Beaux [exh. review]." The Feminist Art Journal 4, no. 4 (Winter 1975-76): 27, repro., 29.

1977: Hughes, Robert. "Rediscovered- Women Painters [exh. review]." Time 109, no. 2 (10 January 1977): 60, 62, repro.

1979: Muchnic, Suzanne. "Stuffers for Artists' Yule Stockings." Los Angeles Times (23 December 1979): 13.

1980: Collins, Amy Fine. American Impressionism. New York, 1980: 26, 27, repro.

1984: Corcoran Gallery of Art. American Painting: The Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1984: 24, 25, repro.

1987: Zoccoli, Franca. Dall'ago Al Pennello: Storia delle Artiste Americane. Urbino, Italy, 1987: 73, 160, repro.

1990: Tappert, Tara and Matthew Mattiello. "Cecilia Beaux: The Strength of Character." Victoria 4, no. 3 (March 1990): 54, 55, repro.

1995: May, Stephen. "Cecilia Beaux: Portrait of the Gilded Age [exh. review]." American Art Quarterly 12, no. 4 (Fall 1995): 36.

1995: May, Stephen. "Cecilia Beaux: The Art of Portraiture [exh. review]." Antiques and the Arts Weekly ( 8 December 1995): 69, repro., 70.

1996: Tappert, Tara Leigh. "Artistic Ambitions: Cecilia Beaux in Philadelphia." Pennsylvania Heritage 22, no. 1 (Winter 1996): 27, repro.

1998: Burchard, Hank. "Corcoran Biennial: A Retreat in Reverse [exh. review]." The Washington Post (7 August 1998): N: 55.

1998: Dorsey, John. "Framing the Century: Corcoran Gallery Highlights the Best Works from Its Forty-four Biennials [exh. review]." Baltimore Sun (3 September 1998): F: 3.

1998: Faletti, Rina C. "Peering Out from the Eyes of an Other: Cecilia Beaux and her Portraits of Women." Unpublished graduate seminar paper, American Univeristy, Washington, D.C., 1999: 13.

1998: Lewis, Jo Ann. "The Corcoran Biennial: Delivery on Collection [exh. review]." Washington Post (19 July 1998): G: 1, repro.

2000: Cash, Sarah, with Terrie Sultan. American Treasures of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. New York, 2000: 157, repro.

2000: Regenbogen, Lucian S. 31 Grandes Dames de la Peinture Mordene Bucarest, 2000: 157, repro.

2003: Kilian, Michael. "A Look at Impressionism in America [exh. review]." Chicago Tribune (28 September 2003): 4.

2003: Smith, Roberta. "Washington's Museum Traverses Miles and Eras." The New York Times (22 August 2003): B: 31.

2007: Yount, Sylvia and Kevin Sharp, Nina Auerbach, Mark Bckrath. Cecilia Beaux: American Figure Painter. Exh. cat. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2007: 32-34, 53, no. 146, 69, 81, 93.

2008: Gopnik, Blake. "Wide Angle: How Two Women Painted Themselves Out of the Corner [exh. reivew]." The Washington Post (9 March 2008): Style and Art: 9.

2009: Burns, Sarah, and John Davis. American Art to 1900: A Documentary History. Los Angeles, 2009: 746, repro.

2011: Wingate, Jennifer. "Cecilia Beaux, "Sita and Sarita." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 230-231, 281, repro.