"Dancing With The Gilders"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

The young lady seems to be connecting with the sisters, Dorothea and Francesca Gilder, in this portrait by Cecilia Beaux.   Beaux befriended the Gilder family while in Paris in 1896 and when after the artist moved to New York City, they became close friends.  Beaux painted the family members often, especially the sisters.  Her depiction is a tender, elegant portrait of a big sister teaching her little sister a dance step - something they often filled their days with.

Cecilia Beaux, an American, female painter was raised in both Philadelphia and New York City by relatives who nurtured her desire to become a painter - studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Paris.  She developed an earned reputation as one of the best portrait painters, rivaling those like John Singer Sargent.  After completing Dorothea and Francesca in 1898, she received important commissions, including portraits of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Mrs. Andrew Carnegie to name a few.

Dorothea and Francesca, among a few others by Beaux, hang in the Art Institute of Chicago.