Childe Hassam
Lillie (Lillie Langtry)about 1898
watercolor
24 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Lillie Langtry was an English actress, famous as one of the country's most beautiful women. Her American tour, spanning five consecutive years, was a grand success, with a town in Texas being named in her honor by Justice of the Peace Roy Bean. In 1898, during this tour, Lillie posed for Childe Hassam in his Fifth Avenue studio. Hassam recalled "having been introduced to her by Stanford White, the great friend of not only all the painters, but of all the good-looking women."
