Cecilia Beaux

Parisian-trained Cecilia Beaux portrays educator and suffragist Sarah Doyle in academic robes over a white blouse and skirt. Broad brushstrokes and a deep red background contrast with her steady, dignified gaze and allude to her intellectual energy.

Doyle was principal of the girls’ department at Providence High School from 1872 to 1892 and a founder of Pembroke College at Brown University. To acknowledge her “deep and lasting influence upon the women of this community,” former students commissioned a portrait that would “perpetuate her strong, womanly personality,” and “be of itself a work of art of the highest merit.”