200 - Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt 1844-1926, attributed Portrait of a Girl Oil on canvas 60.5 x 50 cm Stamped on the reverse by Gustave Sennelier Canvas damaged on the left, approx. 2 cm Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) is regarded as one of the most significant American Impressionist artists. Working in France and closely associated with the circle around Edgar Degas, she devoted herself in particular to depicting the lives of women and children. Her portraits lend everyday moments a special presence, combining her attentive observation of her subjects with a free, lively painterly execution. Portraits of girls occupy an important place within her oeuvre. In these works, the focus is often on the face, whilst clothing and surroundings are merely hinted at with swift brushstrokes. Such open areas may indicate that the work is unfinished, or they may serve as a deliberate artistic device to convey a sense of spontaneous drawing. A striking example is Cassatt’s unfinished *Portrait of Simone in a Blue Bonnet* in the San Diego Museum of Art (Inv. No. 1938.20), in which the finely modelled face contrasts with a sketch-like treatment of the surrounding areas of the picture. This painting, attributed to Cassatt, depicts a girl with long, auburn hair against a dark background. A blue ruffled bonnet frames her head; its fanned-out folds are reminiscent of the petals of a flower. The cool colouring of the headdress provides a charming contrast to the warm tone of her hair. A bow sits at her neck; like the gown beneath it, this is merely sketched and not fully rendered. This focuses the viewer’s attention on the head and the striking bonnet. The alternation between detailed and left-unfinished areas lends the portrait an immediate, sketch-like character and provides a point of reference to Cassatt’s painting practice. A suitable comparison in terms of subject matter is Mary Cassatt’s *Margot (Lefebvre) in Blue* from 1902, held at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (Inv. No. 37.303). This portrait, executed in pastel on paper, depicts a girl wearing a white, loosely draped bonnet and a blue dress. Whilst in that work the blue dominates the clothing, in the present painting it is concentrated on the ruffled bonnet, which flares out like a flower. The striking headdress forms an effective frame for the child’s face in both works. This connection highlights the motif’s affinity with Cassatt’s portraits of children.