Movement, Style, School or Type of Art: Realism, specifically
portraiture. The artist was frequently (and favorably) compared
to John Singer Sargent, which she took as a compliment. Beaux
executed some technically flawless, personally uninspiring
drawings of fossils and shells for the paleontologist E. D. Cope
in 1874. Though it was a paying job, she so disliked portraying
anything except people (and the occasional cat), she never again
ventured outside of portraiture. Her start here involved
painting the faces of children on yet-to-be-fired porcelain
plates -- a briefly lucrative proposition that allowed her to
bank funds with which to pursue her true ambition: oil
portraiture in the "grand manner" (i.e.: full-length poses of
nicely-clothed, usually-wealthy sitters). Date and Place of
Birth: May 1, 1855, Philadelphia Records indicate that Beaux's
christened name was Eliza Cecilia, after her mother, Cecilia
Kent Leavitt (1822-1855). She was thus connected with old Main
Line Philadelphia Society, although the