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Lot Essay
Formerly in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Femme portant un bonnet noir et vert, cousant closely relates to two pastels in museum collections, Young Woman in a Black and Green Bonnet, Looking Down of the Princeton Art Museum and Woman Arranging Her Veil of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. United by the same fanciful poke bonnet depicted at varying angles, this important group of works executed circa 1890 illustrates Edgar Degas’ influence on Mary Cassatt’s esteemed oeuvre, as well as Cassatt’s own distinct perspective as a pioneering woman Impressionist.
Cassatt set sail for France in 1866, following studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was granted quick acceptance into Parisian art circles. Bolstered by her first public success at the Salon of 1868, she settled in Paris and continued to exhibit at the Academy, though her style became increasingly less conventional as she developed a more progressive, painterly technique. Her innovative work captured the eye of Degas, who invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists and to join the group in forging a new mode of painting. Cassatt enthusiastically received Degas' invitation: "I accepted with joy," she wrote, "At last I was able to work with an absolute independence without thinking about the opinion of a jury. Already I knew who were my true masters! I admired Manet, Courbet and Degas. I hated conventional art. I began to live" (as quoted in M.R. Witzling, Mary Cassatt: A Private World, Washington, D.C., 1991, p. 11).
Indeed, her admiration of Degas grew into a close friendship and symbiotic professional relationship, with the artists employing aspects of each other’s styles and exchanging constructive critiques. Cassatt, for example, absorbed Degas’ interest in the visual delights of millinery, as evidenced by the present work. Mara R. Witzling reflects, “Cassatt often framed the faces of adult sitters with prominent headpieces, and she herself is known to have modeled for several of Degas’ millinery scenes. Hats, with their bows, flowers, and streamers, are suggestive of the trappings of femininity. Visually, they add to the formal interest of Cassatt’s work, as frames and foils for the heads they surround” (Ibid., 1991, p. 75).
While there was this significant crossover in the styles of Cassatt and Degas, Cassatt’s perspective as a woman artist imbued her depictions of women with a naturalistic candor and sympathy distinct from the typical male gaze of her contemporaries. Perhaps best known for her maternal subjects, Cassatt devoted her career to images of women often in domestic or simply intimate spheres of their lives. In the present work, the tilt of the bonnet and sitter’s downward gaze emphasize the mood of concentration conveyed by the diligently working young woman, seated in a garden. Frank Getlein writes, “The focal center of the painting is exactly where it ought to be, on those busy, well-trained fingers going about a piece of work that they are quite competent to do but that nevertheless demands the attention it is getting. Perhaps Cassatt saw in this quiet domestic act an analogy to her own use of her hands to create something new out of cloth, the linen of her canvas” (op. cit., 1980, p. 72). In this way, the present work evokes many of the themes celebrated in the recent acclaimed retrospective Mary Cassatt at Work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last year.
Cassatt’s vigorous brushwork and bold use of color relates to the spontaneity of the Impressionists, while the delicate treatment of the hands focuses the viewer’s attention and draws a sense of importance to her subject. Getlein continues, “Moving away from this intently seen central act, the picture diffuses into the complementary and contrasting greens of bonnet and dress, lawn and foliage” (Frank Getlein, Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints, New York, 1980, p. 72). Indeed, in comparison to its related pastels, Nancy Mowll Matthews writes of the present work, “It is in the oil…that Cassatt’s strongest colors appear–vivid purples and greens around the hands…” (Mary Cassatt, New York, 1987, p. 63). As described by the Art Institute of Chicago, Mary Cassatt’s inherently modern and beautifully executed Femme portant un bonnet noir et vert “shows her at her best” (Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, 15 September 1956, vol. 50, no. 3, p. 44).
Cassatt set sail for France in 1866, following studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was granted quick acceptance into Parisian art circles. Bolstered by her first public success at the Salon of 1868, she settled in Paris and continued to exhibit at the Academy, though her style became increasingly less conventional as she developed a more progressive, painterly technique. Her innovative work captured the eye of Degas, who invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists and to join the group in forging a new mode of painting. Cassatt enthusiastically received Degas' invitation: "I accepted with joy," she wrote, "At last I was able to work with an absolute independence without thinking about the opinion of a jury. Already I knew who were my true masters! I admired Manet, Courbet and Degas. I hated conventional art. I began to live" (as quoted in M.R. Witzling, Mary Cassatt: A Private World, Washington, D.C., 1991, p. 11).
Indeed, her admiration of Degas grew into a close friendship and symbiotic professional relationship, with the artists employing aspects of each other’s styles and exchanging constructive critiques. Cassatt, for example, absorbed Degas’ interest in the visual delights of millinery, as evidenced by the present work. Mara R. Witzling reflects, “Cassatt often framed the faces of adult sitters with prominent headpieces, and she herself is known to have modeled for several of Degas’ millinery scenes. Hats, with their bows, flowers, and streamers, are suggestive of the trappings of femininity. Visually, they add to the formal interest of Cassatt’s work, as frames and foils for the heads they surround” (Ibid., 1991, p. 75).
While there was this significant crossover in the styles of Cassatt and Degas, Cassatt’s perspective as a woman artist imbued her depictions of women with a naturalistic candor and sympathy distinct from the typical male gaze of her contemporaries. Perhaps best known for her maternal subjects, Cassatt devoted her career to images of women often in domestic or simply intimate spheres of their lives. In the present work, the tilt of the bonnet and sitter’s downward gaze emphasize the mood of concentration conveyed by the diligently working young woman, seated in a garden. Frank Getlein writes, “The focal center of the painting is exactly where it ought to be, on those busy, well-trained fingers going about a piece of work that they are quite competent to do but that nevertheless demands the attention it is getting. Perhaps Cassatt saw in this quiet domestic act an analogy to her own use of her hands to create something new out of cloth, the linen of her canvas” (op. cit., 1980, p. 72). In this way, the present work evokes many of the themes celebrated in the recent acclaimed retrospective Mary Cassatt at Work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last year.
Cassatt’s vigorous brushwork and bold use of color relates to the spontaneity of the Impressionists, while the delicate treatment of the hands focuses the viewer’s attention and draws a sense of importance to her subject. Getlein continues, “Moving away from this intently seen central act, the picture diffuses into the complementary and contrasting greens of bonnet and dress, lawn and foliage” (Frank Getlein, Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints, New York, 1980, p. 72). Indeed, in comparison to its related pastels, Nancy Mowll Matthews writes of the present work, “It is in the oil…that Cassatt’s strongest colors appear–vivid purples and greens around the hands…” (Mary Cassatt, New York, 1987, p. 63). As described by the Art Institute of Chicago, Mary Cassatt’s inherently modern and beautifully executed Femme portant un bonnet noir et vert “shows her at her best” (Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, 15 September 1956, vol. 50, no. 3, p. 44).