Beck Gold Medal

Carol H. Beck Gold Medal (defunct) was a prestigious art prize awarded for the best oil portrait by an American artist submitted to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts's annual exhibition. It was named for PAFA alumna and painter/writer/critic Carol H. Beck (1859–1908), whose brother James M. Beck founded the award in her memory. The portrait had to have been painted within the prior three years, and an artist could be awarded the medal only once.^[1]

The first Beck Gold Medal was awarded in 1909. Recipients included John Singer Sargent, Robert Henri, George Bellows, John Sloan and Thomas Hart Benton. The last was awarded in 1968. Beginning in 1969, the annual exhibitions were dedicated exclusively to student work from PAFA's school.

Recipients

Year	Artist	Image	Work	Collection	Notes
1909	John Singer Sargent		Miss Mathilde Townsend[2]	National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.	First Beck Gold Medal awarded
1910	Adolphe Borie		Lady with Black Scarf[3]
1911	Edmund Tarbell		Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D.[4]	Yale University Art Gallery
1912	Joseph de Camp		Francis I. Amory, Esq.[5]
1913	J. Alden Weir		The Black Hat	Brooklyn Museum
1914	Robert Henri		Herself[6]	Art Institute of Chicago
1915	Charles Hopkinson		H. H. (The Artist's Daughter Harriot)[7]	Rhode Island School of Design Museum	Exterior, snow scene. Half-length. Harriot Hopkinson, about age 11
1916	Douglas Volk		Dr. Felix Adler[8]	Metropolitan Museum of Art
1917	Joseph Thurman Pearson Jr.		The Twins: Virginia and Jane[9]	James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania	The artist's daughters
1918	Leopold Seyffert		Fritz Kreisler[10]	National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1919	Leslie P. Thompson		Portrait of a Girl
1920	Eugene Speicher		Portrait of a Russian Woman
1921	George Bellows		Eleanor, Jean and Anna[11]	Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York	The artist's aunt, daughter and mother
1922	Ellen Emmet Rand		The Honorable Donald T. Warner	Private collection	First woman to be awarded a Beck Gold Medal
1923	Lilian Westcott Hale[12]		Miss Margaret Williams[13]
1924	Sidney E. Dickinson		Edward Dickinson	Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
1925	William James		Alice Howe Gibbens James[14]	Private collection
1926	Alice Kent Stoddard		Miss S.
1927	William C. Johansen		Elihu Root
1928	William Paxton		Mrs. Francis R. Strawbridge
1929	Richard Lahey		Madame Du Tarte
1930	Leon Kroll		Joie[15]		The artist's adopted daughter.
1931	John Sloan		Vagis, the Sculptor	Private collection
1932	Saul		Child with Instrument
1933	William Glackens		Girl in Black and White[16]	Whitney Museum of American Art
1934	Raphael Soyer		Gittel[17]
1935	John W. Beauchamp		Duck Hunter		At 29, the youngest artist to be awarded a Beck Gold Medal
1936	Jean MacLane		Rev. G. A. Studdert-Kennedy
1937	Frank von der Lancken		My Mother
1938	Arnold Blanch		Portrait of a Man[18]
1939	Leon Karp		My Wife
1940	George Grosz		Self-Portrait	Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
1941	Franklin C. Watkins		Misses Maude and Maxine Meyer de Schauensee
1942	No medal awarded
1943	Thomas Hart Benton		Aaron[19]	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1944	Louis Bouche		Les Fleurs sauvages (Wildflowers)		Barefoot man with bouquet
1945	Sigmund Menkes		Tola
1946	Benton Murdoch Spruance		Mabel's Daughter
1947	Sueo Serisawa		Pierrot
1948	Alexander Brook		Young Pianist[20]
1949	Philip Evergood		Her World[21]	Metropolitan Museum of Art
1950	Henry Mattson		Self-Portrait
1951	Henry Varnum Poor		The Artist in Summer (Self-Portrait)
1952	Gladys Rockmore Davis		Study of an Old Woman (Rosa Jacobs)[22]
1953	Elsie Manville		The Yellow Hat
1954	John King		Kathryn
1955	Student exhibition
1956	No medal awarded
1957	Student exhibition
1958	Robert Brackman		Peter Freuchen[23]	The Explorers Club, New York City
1959	Student exhibition
1960	No medal awarded
1961	Student exhibition
1962	Balcomb Greene		Man in the City[24]	ex coll. Vassar College
1963	Student exhibition
1964	Paul Georges		Wife and Children
1965	Student exhibition
1966	Ben Benn		Portrait of Velida (The Artist's Wife)[25]		Auctioned at Shannon's, Milford, Connecticut, October 23, 2003; sold for $1,500.[26]
1967	Student exhibition
1968	Richard Diebenkorn		Large Woman[27]		Last Beck Gold Medal awarded

See also

• Temple Gold Medal
• Mary Smith Prize
• Widener Gold Medal

References

1. American Art Directory (Public domain ed.). R.R. Bowker. 1911. pp. 220–.
2. Mathilde Townsend, from National Gallery of Art.
3. Lady with Black Scarf
4. Rev. Timothy Dwight, from Yale University Art Gallery.
5. Francis I. Amory
6. Herself, from Art Institute of Chicago.
7. H. H., from SIRIS.
8. Dr. Felix Adler, from Metropolitan Museum of Art.
9. The Twins, from James A. Michener Art Museum.
10. Fritz Kreisler, from National Portrait Gallery.
11. Eleanor, Jean and Anna, from Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
12. Kelleher, Diane (28 October 2013). ENCHANTMENT The Art and Life of Lilian Westcott Hale: America's Linear Impressionist. Author House. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-1-4918-1616-5.
13. Miss Margaret Williams, from SIRIS.
14. Alice Howe Gibbens James, from SIRIS.
15. Joie, from SIRIS.
16. Girl in Black and White
17. Gittel
18. Portrait of a Man, from LiveAuctioneers.
19. Aaron, from PAFA.
20. Young Pianist
21. Her World, from Metropolitan Museum of Art.
22. "Rosa Jacobs". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
23. Peter Freuchen, from The Explorers Club.
24. Man in the City, from Christie's NY.
25. Portrait of Velida, from Mutual Art.
26. Portrait of Velida, from Blouin Art Sales Index.
27. Large Woman, from Richard Diebenkorn Foundation.