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  2. Cecilia Beaux papers, 1863-1968
  3. Series 3: Writings, circa 1868-1954

Cecilia Beaux papers, 1863-1968

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Series 3: Writings, circa 1868-1954
0.8 Linear feet
Boxes 2-3, OV 6

This series includes twelve diaries, notebooks, lectures, essays, poetry, and notes written primarily by Cecilia Beaux, as well as a collection of poems and essays about Cecilia Beaux by various authors including Royal Cortissoz, Richard Watson Gilder, and others. A single sketch on notepaper, which appears to be a study for a portrait, is filed at the end of this series.
Twelve diaries contain entries recording daily activities, including regular notes on her work in the studio and with various sitters for portraits. Some entries are quite brief, and others go on at length about her social life in Europe and America; occasional meetings with prominent figures such as Ida Tarbell, Clarence Day, J. Alden Weir, George Bellows, the Roosevelts, and others; jurying; sitters; women's suffrage; and women in art.
Lectures and essays on a variety of art subjects are found, usually in the form of annotated typescripts and often in multiple drafts, filed chronologically with their titles or subjects listed in folder headings. The latest draft of each work is filed first in each folder. Beaux writes of her own experiences as an artist, art techniques, education, critical or theoretical ideas, and autobiographical subjects which are unrelated to art. Included are several essays in the form of letters to unidentified recipients, including a detailed account of her time time spent in Malines, Belgium, to paint Cardinal Mercier in 1919. Lengthy prose fragments, many of them autobiographical, are possibly drafts from her 1930 memoir, Background with Figures.
Poems by Beaux are arranged chronologically, with published poems filed first, along with clippings of their published versions, followed by unpublished poems, titled and untitled. Additional poems are found in her 1868-1884 school notebook. Writings about Cecilia Beaux include poems by Richard Watson Gilder, Adrian Smith, and Adeline Adams; and prose by Royal Cortissoz, Paul Bion, and Eugene Neuhaus. Also found here are corrected galley proofs for an unattributed, published article on American Art that quotes Beaux extensively.
Notebooks include school notes and poetry, expenses, contacts, and what appear to be teaching records. A notebook labeled "Important Data" contains summaries by year of autobiographical data. Other notes include corrections and annotated proofs for Background with Figures, and collection notes by Beaux and others that relate to items in this collection.
Printed editions of some poems and essays are also found in Printed Materials. Additional autobiographical notes and essays are found in Biographical materials and Correspondence. See series descriptions for further details.
Description Container Select
Diary, 1875-1877
2
11
Diary, 1905
2
12
Diary, 1906
2
13
Diary, 1907
2
14
Diary, 1908
2
15
Diary, 1909
2
16
Diary, 1909
2
17
Diary, 1910
2
18
Diary, 1911
2
19
Diary, 1911
2
20
Diary, 1912
2
21
Diary, 1912
2
22
Diary, 1913
2
23
Diary, 1913
2
24
Lectures
"What Should the College A.B. Course Offer to the Future Artist?", 1905
2
25
"The Public and Modern Art", 1907
2
26
"The Public and Modern Art", 1907
2
27
"Portraiture", 1907
2
28
Barnard College Anniversary Lecture, 1915
2
29
Address at the Dinner Given by a Committee of Artists to Lieut. Lemordant at the Vanderbilt Hotel, 1919
2
30
"Gilbert Stuart", 1922
2
31
Address to the Comtemporary Club of Philadelphia Shortly after Sargent's Death, 1926
2
32
Address to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1926
2
33
Address and Memorial Meeting, Cardinal Mercier, Contemporary Club of New York, 1926
2
34
"Color", 1928
2
35
Address to Chi Omega, 1933
2
36
Address to the Present Day Club, 1937
2
37
Essays
"Professional Art Schools,", circa 1915
2
38
"The Eakins Exhibition,", 1917
2
39
Letter-essays Including Letters from Malines, 1919, undated
2
40
Letter to the Times, undated
2
41
"Jean Julien Lemordant aus Etats-Unis,", undated
2
42
"My Aunt and I Have My Ghost,", undated
2
43
"Balthazar's Tale,", undated
2
44
On Beaux's Religious Background, undated
2
45
On Educating Children in the Platic Arts, undated
2
46
Miscellaneous Essays, circa 1937-1938, undated
Includes eulogies for Childe Hassam and Frederick MacMonnies, "Composite Photography," "Originality," "An Ancient Allegory of Life," and other brief, untitled writings
2
47
Prose Fragments, undated
2
48
Prose Fragments, undated
2
49
Prose Fragments, undated
2
50
Prose Fragments, undated
2
51
Prose Fragments, undated
2
52
Prose Fragments, undated
2
53
Poetry
Titled Poems, circa 1874-circa 1940
2
54
Titled Poems, circa 1874-circa 1940
2
55
Titled Poems, circa 1874-circa 1940
2
56
Untitled Poems, 1908-1929, undated
2
57
Poetry, Fragments and Miscellany, undated
2
58
Poems by Others, undated
2
59
Writings by Others about Cecilia Beaux, circa 1894-1935, undated
Oversized material housed in OV 6
3
1
Oversized Writings
Oversized material digitized with Box 3, Folder 1
OV 6
Notebooks
School Notes and Poetry, 1868-1884
3
2
Expenses and Other Notes, 1879-1884
3
3
"People Who Came to Teas", 1896
3
4
"Important Data" (1916-1928), undated
3
5
Notes
Corrections and Proofs for Background with Figures, circa 1930
3
6
Collection Notes, 1917-1954, undated
3
7
Miscellaneous Notes, undated
3
8
Sketch, undated
3
9

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.