The Twins: Virginia and Jane

In The Twins: Virginia and Jane, which was awarded the Beck Gold Medal for portraiture from the 1917 Pennsylvania Academy Annual Exhibition as well as the gold medal at the 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia, Joseph Pearson subtly delineates the expressive movements of his daughters in order to isolate features peculiar to each.

Describing the Pearson portrait as an obvious choice for the Beck medal, a New York Times critic underscored the subjects’ subtly differentiated gestures and poses: ". . . their likeness to one another subtly diverted . . . until you find yourself intently reading their future in [their] digressions from the family norm. . . . Not even the folds of the short skirts disobey the key of character struck in the one instance by the easy gesture and pliant bearing and in the other by the widely separated feet and the aggressive pose of the head on a sturdy neck.""