Beauty's legacy: gilded age portraits in America

Abstract

"Named after a series of charity portraiture shows held by the New York social elite during the 1890s, Beauty's Legacy examines the resurgence of society portraiture in the United States between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I. The catalog features 65 portraits from the New-York Historical Society collection: sitters range from celebrated beauties to business titans, among them Mrs. William Waldorf Astor, Emma Thursby, Samuel Verplanck Hoffman, Mary Barrett Wendell, Reverend Henry Codman Potter, and Mary Gardiner Thompson; featured artists include John Singer Sargent, James Carroll Beckwith, George Peter Alexander Healy, Daniel Huntington, Eastman Johnson, and Benjamin Curtis Porter. Accompanying entries provide insight into patterns of patronage within a social milieu obsessed with identity and appearance. Essays consider issues such as celebrity, exclusivity, philanthropy, and the competing ideals of natural and enhanced beauty."--Publisher's description.

Contents

Gilded age portraiture: cultural capital personified -- Peter Marié's gallery of beauty: "a dream of fair women" -- Miniatures -- Painted beauty: portraits, fashion, and cosmetics in the gilded age -- Paintings and sculpture.