Alternate Views

After the Bath

1901

Mary Cassatt

(American, 1844-1926)

America, late 18th-19th Century

Pastel

Sheet: 66 x 100 cm (26 x 39 3/8 in.)

Gift of J. H. Wade 1920.379

Location

not on view

Description

Cassatt began using pastel in the 1870s. Her earliest works display a sophistication unusual in a beginner; her colors were pure and unmuddied, the line certain, and compositions complex. Two opposing tendencies emerged in her mature pastel technique: while she always retained a high degree of finish in her sitters’ faces, she allowed herself great freedom in rendering their garments and surroundings. Such a dichotomy is evident in this portrait of a mother and her children. Cassatt commented that pastel was “the most satisfactory medium for [portraying] children.” The spontaneity that pastel allowed was an advantage when drawing children who could not sit still for long periods of time.

Provenance

Durand-Ruel, Paris; Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

Durand-Ruel, Paris

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 546 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 188 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 188 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 234 archive.org

Exhibition history

CMA, June 23 - October 4, 1937: "Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 until Today," cat. no. 26, p. 15.

Chicago, IL, The Art Institute of Chicago, January 14-February 25, 1954: Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt, cat. no. 26, repr. p. 34.

CMA, October 2-November 4, 1956: Art: The International Language, no cat.

Chicago, IL, The Art Institute of Chicago, July 1-September 5, 1966: Mary Cassatt

CMA, July 21-October 18, 1987: Fraternite: Artistic Relations between France and America, no cat.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (8/27/00 - 10/17/00); NY, NY: The Pierpont Morgan Library (5/24/01- 8/19/01); Museum of Fine Arts Houston (10/14/01 - 1/6/02); "Master Drawings from The Cleveland Museum of Art"

CMA, November 1, 1993-January 2, 1994: Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, no cat.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/21/2005 - 09/11/2005); "CMA Highlights"

CMA (organizer). Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"

The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/14/2012 - 01/20/2013); "Mary Cassatt"

The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/04/2012 - 01/20/2013); "Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteeth-Century Paris"

The Cleveland Museum of Art (11/19/2016 - 3/19/2017); "Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art”

Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943).

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).

Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 7, 1993-January 2, 1994).

Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).

Cite this page

{{cite web |title=After the Bath |url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1920.379 |author=Mary Cassatt |year=1901 |access-date=20 April 2019 |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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After the Bath

After the Bath

Mary Cassatt

America, late 18th-19th Century

Location

Description

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