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Portrait of the Artist

Mary Cassatt American
1878
Not on view
Mary Cassatt painted this self-portrait, one of only two known, a year after Edgar Degas invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists. His influence is apparent in the unusual sage-green background, the attention to contrasting complementary colors, and the figure’s daring and casual asymmetrical pose. Louisine Elder (later Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer), a young American art student Cassatt met in Paris in 1874, acquired this work by 1879. Havemeyer would become Cassatt’s great friend and American patron, donating much of her impressionist collection to this museum.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of the Artist
  • Artist: Mary Cassatt (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise)
  • Date: 1878
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Watercolor, gouache on wove paper laid down to buff-colored wood-pulp paper
  • Dimensions: 23 5/8 x 16 3/16 in. (60 x 41.1 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Edith H. Proskauer, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.319.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Map, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of three
The Map
Mary Cassatt
1890
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; second state of two
Mother Berthe Holding Her Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1889
The Barefooted Child, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint and aquatint, printed in color from three plates; fifth state of five
The Barefooted Child
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1896–97
The Stocking, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; fifth state of six
The Stocking
Mary Cassatt
1890
The Mirror, Mary Cassatt American, Drypoint; sixth state of six
The Mirror
Mary Cassatt
ca. 1891

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