A woman in a blue dress reclines on a red and gold sofa next to a small, black dog.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A woman in a light blue dress with a high collar reclines on a gold and red striped soda. Her reddish-brown hair is pulled back and she is wearing a slim, blue headband. She is holding a piece of fabric in her left hand. Her right hand is raised, and she is holding a piece of red thread. Her face is turned, and she is smiling at the small, black dog on the couch next to her. The dog is sitting on its hind legs and is looking back at the woman.

Gallery Text

After studying in the United States and traveling throughout Europe, Cassatt settled in Paris in 1874. This work dates to a transitional period in her career, when she was still seeking official recognition from the French Academy. The deep-red wall behind the sitter can be considered part of that effort, as this work was painted in the same year that another of Cassatt’s works was finally accepted to the Salon, after she darkened its background. Three years later, at the invitation of Edgar Degas, Cassatt began exhibiting with the impressionists. She was one of three women and the only American in the group.

Cassatt frequently painted domestic scenes such as this one. The charming composition recalls eighteenth-century precedents, while the broad, sketchy brushstrokes highlight the artist’s divergence from traditional painting practices.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1961.159
People
Mary Cassatt, American (Allegheny City, PA 1844 - 1926 Le Mesnil-Theribus, France)
Title
Woman on a Striped Sofa with a Dog
Other Titles
Former Title: Young Woman on a Striped Sofa with Her Dog
Former Title: Girl on Settee with Black Dog
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1876
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228130

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2700, European and American Art, 19th century, Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
41.9 x 33.3 cm (16 1/2 x 13 1/8 in.)
framed: 58.4 x 49.2 x 6 cm (23 x 19 3/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: u.l.: M. S. Cassatt/Paris/1875

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Acquired from the artist by Mme. Paul Inglebach through her sister, Mme. E. Vogt-Hélène; bequest to her son, Gaston Ingelbach, Paris, 1908; purchased by Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1958; purchased from them by Mrs. Peter I.B. Lavan; gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1961.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Peter I. B. Lavan
Accession Year
1961
Object Number
1961.159
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors and Drawings, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC, 1970), no. 45
  • Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, Peter G. Huenink, Earl A. Powell III, Harry Z. Rand, and Nanette C. Sexton, American Art at Harvard, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), cat. 88, ill
  • Retrospective of a Gallery: Twenty Years, exh. cat., Hirschl & Adler Galleries (New York, NY, 1973)
  • Nancy Mowll Mathews, Mary Cassatt, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc./National Museum of American Art (Washington DC, 1987), reproduced in b/w fig. 22, p. 26; text p. 30
  • William H. Gerdts, The Golden Age of American Impressionism, exh. cat., Watson-Guptill Publications (New York, 2003), p. 48; Plate 14, p. 49.
  • Sally Webster, Eve's Daughter/Modern Woman: A Mural by Mary Cassatt, University of Illinois Press (Urbana and Chicago, IL, 2004), fig 5
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 59, cat. no. 32, reproduced in color

Exhibition History

  • American Art at Harvard, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/19/1972 - 06/18/1972
  • Retrospective of a Gallery: Twenty Years, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 11/07/1973 - 12/01/1973
  • 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu