Mr. and Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes

Cecilia Beaux

1898 (?) · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Mr. and Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes — Cecilia Beaux

This work by the esteemed figure painter Cecilia Beaux depicts Anson Phelps Stokes (1838–1913) and his wife, Helen Louisa Stokes (1846–1930), in their Madison Avenue residence. The unconventional composition foregrounding the woman—with the man relegated to the rear—echoes John Singer Sargent’s famous portrayal of the sitters’ son and daughter-in-law, Edith Minturn Stokes, painted in London the previous year and also in The Met’s collection. Beaux followed her depiction of the elder Stokes—her first New York commission—with one of Edith alone (private collection). Such multiple, responsive commissions were especially common during the 1890s, a popular decade for American portraiture.

Artist
Cecilia Beaux
Date
1898 (?)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Credit line
Gift of the family of the Rev. and Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes, 1965

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