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Girlhood

1901
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 764
After studying painting in Paris, Missouri-born J. Carroll Beckwith became a prominent figure in the late 19th-century New York art world. Best known for his work as a portraitist, he was a leading teacher at the center of the city’s community of foreign-trained artists. Girlhood is one of Beckwith’s most important portraits, one that he cherished deeply and kept in his studio until his death.

Beckwith portrays sixteen-year-old model Evelyn Nesbit as a representation of youthful innocence and beauty. Nesbit was a significant cultural figure at the turn of the twentieth century in New York. She modeled for several artists before becoming a star on stage and later in film. As a young woman, she was exploited and abused by the architect Stanford White, who was later murdered in retribution by her husband Harry Kendall Thaw on the roof top of Madison Square Garden, in 1906.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Girlhood
  • Artist: J. Carroll Beckwith (American, Hannibal, Missouri 1852–1917 New York)
  • Date: 1901
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24 in. (91.4 × 61 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Tom Brady Folk and Frank Brady, in memory of Angela Gross Folk, 2026
  • Object Number: 2026.266
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Lake of Orta, J. Carroll Beckwith American, Oil on wood, American
Lake of Orta
J. Carroll Beckwith
1910 or 1911
Gray and Brass, John Sloan American, Oil on canvas, American
Gray and Brass
John Sloan
1907
Still Life—Violin and Music, William Michael Harnett American, Oil on canvas, American
Still Life—Violin and Music
William Michael Harnett
1888
Rodman de Kay Gilder, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Rodman de Kay Gilder
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1879, cast probably 1880
Seated Woman with Birds, J. Carroll Beckwith American, Colored chalks and pastel on grey wove paper, American
Seated Woman with Birds
J. Carroll Beckwith

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