FRENCH PAINTING

Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926) The Boating Party, 1893/1894. Oil on canvas, .900 x 1.173 m. Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.94.
Although she was American,from a prominent Pennsylvania family, Mary Cassatt's work normally hangs with French painting. At the age of twenty-two she left to study art in France and she remained there most of her life. Her choice of career-and success-were unusual for nineteenth-century women. Her paintings were exhibited with the independent artists we now call impressionists, and she produced some of the most inventive works in their late expositions. It was through Cassatt's social contacts and wealthy friends at home that impressionist works were first acquired by progressive American collectors. Like Degas, however, Cassatt detested the term "impressionist." She relied, not on momentary inspiration, but on drawing and the careful working out of design. This bold composition-one of her most ambitious-shows her understanding of the flat, patterned surfaces, simplified color blocks, and unusual angles of Japanese prints, which were very popular in nineteenth-century Paris. The horizon is pushed to the top of the canvas, giving an oblique, bird's-eye view into the boat. Bold areas of citron and blue carve strong patterns and flatten space.
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