Partner Jane Boit Patten
Queer Places:
Saint Germain-en-Laye Old Communal Cemetery, 78 bis Rue Léon Désoyer, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Florence "Florie" Dumaresq Boit (May 6, 1868 - December 8, 1919), born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 6, 1868, to artist Edward Darley Boit, Jr. and
Maria Louisa "Isa" Cushing Boit, lived a life defined by artistic immortality, pioneering athleticism, and a quiet rejection of conventional Victorian
expectations. Growing up predominantly in France and Italy alongside her family, she was shaped by an artistic household overseen by a notoriously
demanding and formidable father. Her childhood and likeness were preserved for posterity in
John Singer Sargent's celebrated 1882 masterpiece, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, which hangs as a
centerpiece at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In this iconic painting, Florie is immortalized leaning casually against the massive Japanese porcelain
vase on the right side of the canvas. None of the four Boit sisters depicted in the painting ever married, a circumstance often attributed to the
overwhelming shadow and eccentricities of their father, alongside familial struggles with mental health that touched her siblings.
As an adult, Florie deliberately spurned traditional male courtship and conventional high society, carving out an independent path. She developed a
profound passion for golf, emerging as a prominent early pioneer of the sport who helped introduce it to the Boston area. Her enthusiasm was instrumental
in persuading T. Suffern Tailer to establish a golf course in Newport, Rhode Island, leaving a lasting mark on American sports history. Settling into her
adult life, Florie found companionship and enduring stability in a committed partnership with her cousin and close friend,
Jane Boit Patten, affectionately known as 'Pat'. Their domestic arrangement reflected a classic
nineteenth-century Boston marriage, offering mutual support and autonomy outside traditional marital structures.
Florie's connections extended deep into the elite literary and artistic circles of her era. The Boit family moved within sophisticated transatlantic
networks, maintaining close ties with the Sturgis family and later introducing figures like Edith Wharton to
Henry James. Her later years were marked by international travel and residency between the United States and
Europe. Florie passed away on December 8, 1919, at the age of fifty-one in Paris, France. She is buried at Saint
Germain-en-Laye Old Communal Cemetery in France, her legacy endures firmly through
Sargent's canvas, her pioneering role in women's golf, and her authentic embodiment of early LGBTQ history through her life with Jane Boit Patten.
References:
Other references:
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA): Holds official museum collection records, object history, and provenance documentation for John Singer Sargent’s 1882 oil-on-canvas masterpiece, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (Accession/Reference ID: 31.782), which was gifted to the museum by the Boit sisters.
- Genealogical and Vital Records: Birth, census, and death registries documenting her lineage (as the daughter of Edward Darley Boit, Jr. and Mary Louisa "Isa" Cushing Boit) maintained via archival databases such as FamilySearch and state/parish registers in Massachusetts and France.
- Exhibition and Salon Records: Historical logs from the Paris Salon of 1883 (Salon Carré), where Sargent's painting of the Boit sisters was famously exhibited.
- Biographical and Art Historical Literature: Standard critical texts, museum monographs, and academic catalogues examining the life and work of John Singer Sargent, the transatlantic expatriate community in Paris, and biographical overviews of the Boit family.
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