Peter Marié's "Beauties of New York Society"

The nearly 300 watercolor-on-ivory miniatures in the Peter Marié collection of the “Beauties of New York Society” depict leading New Yorkers at the turn of the twentieth century. The collection as a whole documents Victorian ideals of beauty, social hierarchies among elite New Yorkers, and the revival of the art of miniature painting, which had been threatened with extinction by the advent of photography.

New York bachelor Peter Marié (1825-1903) was a social leader with a reputation for hosting elegant dinners and intimate salons. A noted art collector, he was also a connoisseur of feminine beauty. In 1889, he set about collecting images of women whom he believed epitomized female beauty (although social status was clearly a necessary qualification). Marié’s endorsement was critical to the social success of some young women: Eleanor Roosevelt, whose mother, Anna Hall Roosevelt, was among the chosen, remarked that such approval “stamped young girls and young matrons a success.” Marié commissioned French miniaturist Fernand Paillet (1850-1918) to paint his first miniatures, and later turned to local artists including Katherine Arthur Behenna (d. 1924) and Carl A. Weidner (1865-1906). Some of the portraits were painted from life, although many relied on photographs—a medium whose artistic validity was still hotly debated at the time.

Marié’s collection was well known during his lifetime. The miniatures were prominently displayed in his home at 6 E. 37th Street and in 1894 were included in a major exhibition at the National Academy of Design. The Sun illustrated 44 of the miniatures, noting that “no part of the portrait show at the Academy of Design has been looked upon with more genuine curiosity than Mr. Peter Marié’s collection of miniatures of Gotham’s most beautiful matrons and maidens.” After his death, the portraits continued to attract attention and generate controversy: the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s director, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, turned down Marié’s bequest of the beauties collection, claiming that, because many were copied from photographs, they did not qualify as art. He also challenged Marie’s premise that his subjects represented the most beautiful women in the city. After Cesnola’s public rejection, the New-York Historical Society accepted the gift eagerly, recognizing the collection as an invaluable document of New York society at the turn of the century.