Georges Clemenceau

Cecilia Beaux, Georges Clemenceau, 1920, oil on canvas, 46 ⁷⁄₈ x 36 ³⁄₄ in. (119.2 x 93.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the National Art Committee, 1923.6.5

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Artwork Details

Title: Georges Clemenceau
Artist: Cecilia Beaux
Date: 1920
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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2A
Dimensions: 46 ⁷⁄₈ x 36 ³⁄₄ in. (119.2 x 93.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the National Art Committee
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Portrait male — Clemenceau, Georges
Occupation — political — statesman
Object Number: 1923.6.5
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1923.6.5

Artwork Description

The United States War Portraits Commission hired Cecilia Beaux to paint this portrait of Georges Clemenceau, the premier of France who signed the World War I peace treaty at Versailles in 1919. Clemenceau hated having his portrait made, so Beaux prepared her composition from photographs and sketches while she waited for his return from a trip to the Middle East. She wrote: "Now I am after the most illusive and 'orneriest' of them all, and dear knows when I shall catch him . . ." Beaux finally went to his house for one sitting and from an oil sketch created this portrait of the statesman, standing in his study behind a desk with books and papers.