The Best That Has Ever Lived

Let us say up front that we buy into Virginia Woolf’s theory about women artists: it was/is often lack of opportunity, rather than lack of talent, that keeps the gender imbalance in the classic art canon holding steady. Controversy still abounds as to the placement and display of female artists, particularly whether it matters. If art is good, it is good, right, and will be recognized as such, regardless of gender. Would that it were so. However, in the midst of arguing why women are underrepresented in the artistic pantheons, we can sometimes lose sight of those women who managed to break through those barriers presented by societal and cultural expectations. One is the subject of an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Philadelphia native Cecilia Beaux, who was once described by painter William Merritt Chase as “not only the greatest living woman painter, but the best that has ever lived.”

The exhibition features about 100 works, including oil paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects. Most of these pieces come from private collections, and as such have rarely been on public display. PAFA says they hope the exhibition places “noted Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumna, professor, and Philadelphia native Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) in a new position in American art history,” though considering her list of accomplishments it seems strange she is not more firmly there already. Among her many achievements, she was the first woman to be appointed to the PAFA faculty, and to win the Gold Medal at PAFA, the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and the Pan American Exposition (with Mother and Daughter). The exhibition, organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta in association with the PAFA, is making its last stop in Philly, and represents the first such retrospective of Beaux’s work in over thirty years. The works will be on display from February 2 to April 13, but you can grab a sneak peek tonight during First Friday. While you’re there you can also check out the rest of the PAFA collection, including the rescued Eakin’s Gross Clinic. The gallery will be open with free admission from 5-7PM, with free nosh and a cash bar. Raise a glass to our native daughter, and hope that others like her will find the doors to art history open to them - even if they don’t have rooms of their own.

Cecilia Beaux, American Figure Painter
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
118-128 N. Broad St.
February 2-April 13, 2008
215-972-7600
Adults $15, Student/Senior $12, Youth $10
Free First Friday reception, February 1, 5-7PM