Lot 13

Mary Cassatt was not only one of the most celebrated artists of the Impressionist circle, but also the most highly respected and influential champion of the French movement in the United States. Born the daughter of a Pittsburgh banker in 1844, Mary Stevenson Cassatt received a cultured upbringing and knew by the age of fifteen that she wanted to be an artist. She was quite ambitious and began her formal training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before her sixteenth birthday. "She scoffed at the 'amateurs' in the women's classes and saw herself becoming a true professional, making her living by art. From the first, she dreamed of showing at the important exhibitions, selling her work for high prices, and taking her place among the successful artists of the day." (N.M. Matthews, Mary Cassatt, New York, 1987, p. 13) Cassatt decried the disadvantages of studying art in the United States, where the lack of Old Master paintings from which to study and learn prompted her frustrated departure for Paris in 1865. Her early training in Europe from 1866 to 1870 concentrated on traditional figure painting techniques. Cassatt studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Charles Chaplin in Paris, with Paul Soyer in Ecouen, with Thomas Couture in Villiers-le-Bel and with Charles Bellay in Rome. After a brief stay in America in 1870, Cassatt returned to Europe to travel and copy masterpieces in museums in Parma, Madrid, Seville, Antwerp and Rome, finally settling permanently in Paris in 1874. She began exhibiting regularly in Philadelphia, and had paintings accepted to the Paris Salons of 1868, 1870, and each year from 1872 to 1876. "Cassatt's Salon successes brought the artist a new measure of confidence and also promoted her as a marketable painter." (as quoted in Cassatt: A Retrospective, N.M. Matthews, ed., New Yorkm 1996, p. 61) Despite her successful reception, by 1874 Cassatt was beginning to become disenchanted with the rigid and conservative style imposed by the Salon, preferring to paint more avant-garde works in the brighter palettes favored by members of the Impressionist group. While they have become known as Impressionists, in the late nineteenth century, they "Preferred to be called 'Independents.'" (Mary Cassatt, p. 37) The term "Independents" is siginficant in that it implies the forceful and noble rejection of the starched Parisian art world in favor of autonomous style and conduct. Cassatt has been quoted numerous times recalling her discovery of Edgar Degas' Impressionist works, "How well I remeber, seeing for the first time Degas' pastels in the window of a picture dealer on the Boulevard Haussman. I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art. It changed my life." (as quoted in C.S. Rubinstein, American Woman Artists from Early Indian Times to the Present, Boston, Massachusetts, 1982, p. 132) Numerous scholars have remarked upon the importance of Cassatt's forty-year relationship with Degas, which continued until his death in 1917. It was Degas who, in 1877, convinced Cassatt to cease submitting works to the Salon and to join the Impressionist group instead. Cassatt's artist output changed dramatically as soon as she made the bold shift to Impressionism. Her works immediately took on a more daring character, incorporating the bold palette and lively brushstroke of the Impressionists with zest, creativity, and intelligence. Cassatt's association with the Impressionists had a profound impact not only on the method and philosophy of her painting, but also on her career and life as an artist. As she stopped painting for Salon acceptance and large exhibitions in the United States, Cassatt's audience became the rarefied circle of Parisian collectors, critics, and intelligensia. Joining the Impressionist circle in 1877 firmly established Cassatt as an expatriate artist in Paris. In the same year, she convinced her parents and sister, Lydia, to leave America and join her in Paris permanently. Having advanced her studies and earned critical acclaim in France, Cassatt determined to use her connections and reputation to fortify America's cultural heritage by bringing top quality works of art to collectors across the Atlantic. From the late 1870's, Cassatt began advising friends and family, most famously Louisine and Henry O. Havemeyer, in purchasing contemporary works by Courbet, Manet, Pissaro, Degas and Monet, among others. Along with French dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, Cassatt became on the the leading advocates for exporting Impressionism to the United States. In the boom economy of turn-of-the-century America, tycoons like J.P. Morgan, Henry Clay Firck, William Randolph Hearst, and the artist's own brother, Alexander, were amassing considerable fortunes. Collecting art became an upper class passion, as these Americans determined to legitimize their social standing through accumulating fine paintings and works of art in the fashion of European nobility. Cassatt's social standing in America and abroad enhanced her position as an adviser. Unlike Durand-Ruel who served to gain financially from fostering the market for Impressionism, Cassatt sought no monetary reward in championing her French colleagues. She lent an air of respectability to a group of painters that at least one American critic referred to as "mad outlaws," and her recommendation made contemporary French art desirable. From the late 1870's to 1914, Cassatt worked with and encouraged the collecting interests of the wealthy elite, including her brother Alexander, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Sarah Choate Sears, whose husband made his fortune in real estate, and James Stillman, President of the National City Bank in New York. Collecting by such prominent Americans contributed to increasing prices and popularity of the Impressionists, adding to the artists' reputations and creating a large demand for their works. The Havemeyers, under Cassatt's guidance, were among the very first Americans to defy popular convention by collecting Impressionist art. In Paris in 1877, Cassatt introduced her friend, then Louisine Elder, to the work of Degas and encouraged her to purchase his Rehearsal of the Ballet for 500 francs. The purchase marked the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership, with Cassatt counseling Louisine and, later, her husband H.O. Havemeyer in forming their impressive collection of Impressionist pictures. The Havemeyers traveled frequently to Paris to visit Cassatt and to keep up with the major exhibitions and auctions. The friendship between Cassatt and Mrs. Havemeyer grew deep over the years: "Mrs. Havemeyer admired Cassatt as an artist and a connoisseur, while Cassatt found in her an intelligent collector, as interested in all aspects of modern culture as she herself was. Theirs was a rare meeting of the minds." (Mary Cassatt, p. 109) The Havemeyer's legendary collection eventually grew to a number approaching 4,500 works. It was impressive in size, quality, and scope, including not only Impressionist pictures, but also an important group of Old Master paintings and drawings, American paintings, sculpture and decorative arts, arms and armor, Asian art, and Medieval illuminated manuscripts, among other things. Today, the Havemeyer collection "is known throughout the world for its obvious strengths: the unparalleled group of figure paintings by Corot, the magnificent nudes and portraits by Courbet, the masterpieces by Manet, the exhaustive series of paintings, pastels, drawings, and bronzes by Degas, the great landscapes and still lifes by Cézanne, the pivotal canvases by Monet. Today many observers rightly associate the Havemeyer pictures with Mary Cassatt, the expatriate American who painted in France, whom Mrs. havemeyer called the godmother of the collection, even though Cassatt's work is not, in fact, extensively represented in it." (G. Tinterow, "The Havemeyer Pictures," in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, New York, 1993, p. 3) While much has been made of Cassatt's relationship with the Havemeyer's, the first collectors that Cassatt advised repeatedly were her own brother and sister-in-law, Alexander J. and Maria Lois Buchanan Cassatt.(Fig.1) President of the Pennsylvania Railroad and niece of President James Buchanan, respectively, Alexander and his wife were a socially prominent couple who had a large income with which to acquire the highest quality Impressionist pictures. Their collection originally included works by Mary Cassatt's favorite artists, including Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. Over time, Alexander and his wife built one of the finest collections of Impressionist pictures in America. Many of the Cassatts' purchases were intended for their country home, Cheswold, in Haverford, Pennsylvania.(Fig. 2) Built in 1872/73 by the Philadelphia firm of Furness and Evans, the Cassatts worked tirelessly to fill their impressive Victorian Gothic style home with the finest pictures and furnishings from America and abroad. The pictures in Alexander's collection reflected no only his sister's modern taste, but also his own recreational and business interests. By 1881, he had acquired his first Monet, a harbor scene from 1872 entitled Banks of the Zaan. Of the nine Monets that Alexander would eventually own, six of them were harbor scenes that reflected his great interest in boating themes, while the 1875 Train in the Snow at Argenteuil represented his business concerns. In an 1883 letter to Alexander from his mother, Katherine Cassatt, she wrote "Your father is anxiuos to know if any of your friends appreciate the Monets you took home." (as quoted in Cassatt: A Retrospective, p. 149) Indeed, it would be difficult to underestimate the effect of Alexander Cassatt's purchases on the market for contemporary art in the United States. "Collectors such as Alexander Cassatt encouraged further sales to Americans, for his Philadelphia colleagues trusted his aesthetic judgement and business acumen; he was not likely to pay too much for a painting that might plummet in value." (E.H. Hirshler, "Helping 'Fine Things Across the Atlantic': Mary Cassatt and Art Collecting in the United States," in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, New York, 1998, p. 187) Alexander purchased his first Pissarro by 1881. He also owned several canvases by Manet, including L'Italienne, some of which Mary Cassatt purchased at Manet's 1884 studio sale and described by her as "bargains and...very decorative." (as quoted in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, p. 188) Alexander's interest in horse racing and breeding provided the perfect pretext for collecting works by Degas, whose the Jockey made its way into his collection in 1889. Alexander and Lois Cassatt's collection was largely complete by about 1892, and included several other works by Degas, as well as examples by Morisot, Whistler, Raffaelli and Renoir. Renoir's breathtaking portrait pastel, Femme Assise, hung in the living room at Cheswold, as did Monet's early impressionist harbor scene Voilers. Both works are important examples by the artists and demonstrate Alexander's preference for high quality works. The family's collection also included several works by Mary Cassatt herself. Reading 'Le Figaro', the famous image of the artist's mother, Katherine, hung above the mantel at Cheswold. (Fig. 3,4). Painted circa 1878, the work marks the culmination of Cassatt's early period and is a brilliant example of her intuitive approach to portraiture. The outstanding oil painting Katharine Kelso Cassatt, an intimate and poignant representation of the artist's niece as a young woman, also graced the walls of Cheswold. Likewise, Mrs. Alexander J. Cassatt in a Blue Evening Gown Seated at a Tapestry Frame is a virtuoso work in the Impressionist style from the family's collection. All are wonderful examples of the fresh and fascinating portraits of beloved family members for which Cassatt is best known. Parisian dealer Ambrose Collard recalled "It was with a sort of frenzy that generous Mary Cassatt laboured for the success of her comrades: Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne, Sisley and the rest." (as quoted in assatt: A Retrospective, p. 110) Cassatt's own passion for the art of her contemporaries in France inspired her to work tirelessly promoting it in America. By conseling friends and family, offering advice to dealers, and making acquaintances through collecting, Cassatt succeeded in introducing the sophisticated French taste into America. We are pleased to be offering the following outstanding works from Alexander Cassatt's important collection for the Estate of Katharine Kelso Stewart de Spoelberch, a member of the Cassatt family. Property from the Estate of Katharine Kelso Stewart de Spoelberch, a member of the Cassatt family

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Voiliers

Details

Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Voiliers
signed 'Claude Monet' (lower right)
oil on canvas
173/8 x 26 in. (43.7 x 65.9 cm.)
Painted circa 1870

Provenance

Alexander J. Cassatt, Philadelphia.
Eliza Cassatt Stewart, Philadelphia (1906).
By descent from the above to the late owner.

Exhibited

Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 1989-September 2000 (on extended loan).

Sale room notice

To be included in the forthcoming catalogue rasionné of the works of Claude Monet being prepared by Daniel Wildenstein under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.

Lot Essay

Influenced by his first teacher Eugène Boudin, much of Monet's early work depicts ships and the sea. The handling of light, and the embryonic impressionism of the broad strokes and their reflections in the water can be understood as a precurser to Monet's future development. As Virginia Spate writes, Monet was at this time declaring "his allegiance to the school of pleinairism and to the painters who had preceeded him on that coast, Courbet, Daubigny, Jongkind and Boudin, but he displayed his individuality in the sheer physical density and specificity of his Realism" (V. Spate, The Colour of Time, London, 1992, p. 28). While this subject found favor with collectors of academic paintings, the judges of the Salon refused his submissions in 1867. Monet believed one judge, Jules Breton, to have stated, "it's precisely because he's making progess that I voted against him". In the preface for the artist's successful exhibition in 1873 at Durand-Ruel & Cie., Armand Silvestre commented on a similar work:

On the slightly agitated water, he likes to juxtapose the many-hued reflections of the sunset, of the gaily-colored boats, of the scudding clouds. His canvases shimmer with polished metallic tones of waves lapping in small strokes of separate colors; and the image of the shore trembles in them, the houses standing out in them as in the children's game in which objects are reconstructed by pieces (R. Gordon and A. Forge, Monet, New York, 1987, p. 50).

Voiliers was purchased by Alexander Cassatt on his sister Mary's advice and may well be the "Marine" mentioned by their father Robert Cassatt:

[Alexander] respected his sister's judgement enough to authorize her to be on the lookout on his behalf. She obtained for him first a Degas (of dancers, not horses), then a Pissarro and a Monet. Mary's father, unlike his wife, who worried that her son would find these works eccentric, was quite enthusiastic about his daughter's purchases, which appealed to his business sense. In a letter of April 18, 1881, he tried to convince Alexander that he was making a sound investment: 'Well you must know that in addition to the Pissarro, of which she wrote you she has bought for you a Marine by Monet for 800 francs--It is a beauty and you will see the day when you will have an offer of 8000 for it '" (F. Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America, New York, 1986, p. 27.)

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