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Mary Cassatt

Simone in a Blue Bonnet, ca. 1903

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

Simone in a Blue Bonnet

Year

ca. 1903

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

61 x 52.1 cm (24 x 20 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Unsigned

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

60.095

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selection VII

American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America

October 11, 2013 - February 9, 2014

After moving to Paris to acquire advanced artistic training, Cassatt became the only American to participate in the groundbreaking French Impressionist exhibitions of the 1870s and 1880s. Her female models were often members of her Paris household or neighbors from her nearby country home.

Cassatt made numerous studies of a little girl named Simone, frequently posing her in colorful bonnets. In this unfinished portrait, she skillfully models the child’s face then sketches her hair and costume with thick strokes of paint. She projects the figure forward from a dark background, but otherwise preserves the natural brightness of the canvas, an Impressionist technique that assured a light overall tonality.

European Galleries

In this unfinished portrait of a young neighbor, Cassatt draws directly and economically with her brush, capturing the child’s expression and subtly modeling her face. She marks the bonnet’s brim with a single firm line then explodes its feathery ornaments with wide, fluid strokes of paint. A prominent vertical and dark, scribbled
brushstrokes suggest interior space and project the figure forward, but areas of exposed white ground preserve the natural brightness of the canvas and register Cassatt’s desire for an overall light tonality.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Simone in a Blue Bonnet with the accession number of 60.095. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.