After Baby's Bath

Details

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1845-1926)
After Baby's Bath
Signed 'Mary Cassatt' lower left
pastel on paper
31¼ x 23¾in. (79 x 61cm.)

Provenance

Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, France, 1913
James Stillman, Paris, France, 1914
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, anonymous gift, 1922
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1956
Wildenstein & Co., New York and Graham Gallery, New York, 1966
Wildenstein & Co., New York
Andrew Crispo Galleries, New York
ACA Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Harris J. Klein, New York
Ron Hall, Dallas, Texas
Hammer Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Gumowitz, New York
Sale: New York, Christie's, May 15, 1990, lot 27

Literature

H.B. Tschudy, Catalogue of the Water Color Paintings, Pastels, and Drawings in the Permanent Collection of the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, 1932, p. 183, illus.
A.D. Breeskin, Mary Cassatt, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington, DC, 1970, p. 212, no. 593, illus.

Exhibited

Paris, France, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, Pastels, Dessins, et Pointes-Sèches par Mary Cassatt, June 1914, no. 21, as Après le bain de bébé
Dallas, Texas, Dallas Museum of Art, 1933
Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Leaders of American Impressionism: Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, John H. Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, October 1937, no. 33
Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Mary Cassatt, A Comprehensive Exhibition of Her Work, November 1941-January 1942, no. 59
Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Mary Cassatt, Paintings, Pastels, Prints, June 1946
New York, Wildenstein & Co., A Loan Exhibition of Mary Cassatt: For the Benefit of the Goddard Neighborhood Center, October-December 1947, no. 49
Southampton, New York, Parrish Art Museum, Miss Mary Cassatt: Paintings and the Graphic Arts, July-August 1967, no. 19
New York, ACA Galleries, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Masterpieces in New York Private Collections, A Loan Exhibition for the Chemotherapy Foundation, September-October 1978, no. 9, cover illus.
Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo Art Center, Georgia O'Keeffe and Her Contemporaries, September-December 1985, no. 27, illus., as Mother and Child
New York, Hammer Galleries, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century American and European Paintings, The Gallery Collection--Recent Acquisitions, September-October 1987, cover illus.
Roslyn Harbor, New York, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, One Hundred Years: A Centennial Celebration of the National Association of Women Artists, October-December 1988, no. 78, illus.

Lot Essay

Executed in 1913, After Baby's Bath incorporates all of the attributes which made the mother and child theme successful for Mary Cassatt throughout her career. Cassatt ingeniously created a modern version of the age-old theme that appealed to the public and and allowed her to explore new techniques, compositions and media. Mothers and children began to appear seperately in Cassatt's earliest work. After they began to appear together, they reappeared until the very end of Cassatt's career. Nancy Mathews has noted that "once Cassatt had incorporated the mother and child theme into her oeuvre she tended to treat it in a serial manner as her colleagues, from Monet to Eugène Carrière, were doing with their favorite subjects... In fact, she may not have intended to return to the theme after the initial series but did so under the dual pressures of critical praise and a favorable market after its success established the motif so firmly as her hallmark." (Mary Cassatt, New York, 1987, p. 75)

After Baby's Bath is one of Cassatt's simplest compositions, and is among her most successful. The composition is powerful and uncomplicated by unnecessary elements. The mother's posture, as she leans slightly toward the child, and the child's snug fit in her mother's arms, subtly speak of the universal relationship between mothers and children. Yet the bold color choices and thick application of pastel instill the work with an unexpectedly daring tone. Mrs. Havemeyer, one of Cassatt's most loyal patrons, felt that works such as this "displayed 'strong drawing, great freedom of technique, and a supreme mastery of color'" (E. J. Bullard, Mary Cassatt Oils and Pastels, New York, 1972, p. 84).

That Cassatt's pastels of mothers and children were successfully selling until the end of her career is a testament to the theme, as well as the artist's talent for bringing a new element to its every rendition.

This pastel will be included in the Cassatt Committee's revision of Adelyn Dohme Breeskin's catalogue raisonné of the works of Mary Cassatt.