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750 of men and women who have attained enduring eminence as painters of portraits. Though in every exhibition of current work numerous portraits are shown, few are found worthy of prominent preservation, and the painters who can be counted upon for worthy productions can equally be enumerated. One of those who to-day holds pre-eminence is Cecilia Beaux. Comparison is often made between her work and that of Sargent. Most critics think her work is more studied but equally strong.

Cecelia Beaux is a dramatist in her studies of character and her art is probably more subtle and more various than that of any woman painter who has devoted her life to portraiture. Her work is modern in every way. Her handling is broad and strong. Many of her touches seem most accidental, while they are of the highest art. Miss Beaux is one of those painters who seem to have arrived almost abruptly on a plane of exceptional accomplishment. Few better works has she produced than those exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1896, which took the French critics by storm, and brought her the honor of Associate Membership in the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Her portraits of the daughters of Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and the portrait of Mr. Gilder were considered of masterly interpretation. There is one portrait wherein Miss Beaux actually created personality. This was her portrait of John Paul Jones, which was presented by the Class of 1881 to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Daughter of James William O'Reilly, a member of the famous O'Reilly family identified with Irish Nationalism. Her great-uncle, Father Eugene O'Reilly, was one of the first promoters of the Irish revival, being the author of the Gaelic