Woman with a Red Zinnia

1891

Mary Cassatt

Artist, American, 1844 - 1926

Shown from the knees up, a young woman with peachy skin and red hair sits facing us on a pine-green bench in this vertical painting. She sits with her body angled to our right, and her left elbow, on our right, hooks over the top slat of the bench. Her head tilts slightly to our right to rest on the curled fingers of that hand. In her other hand, she holds up a red flower on a short stem. Her hair is pulled up and back over a high forehead, and her cheeks are deeply flushed. Her pink lips are closed, and she looks down and to our left at the flower with gray eyes. She has an oval-shaped face and a hint of a double chin. Her white dress is painted with ice-blue shadows and folds. It has a deep V neck that reaches to an apron-like pinafore patterned with vertical bands of pale lilac that alternate with angled daubs of blue. Beyond her is a loosely painted landscape with grassy areas and clusters of tall trees painted in spring, emerald, and sea glass green. The edge of the grassy field nearly brushes the top edge of the canvas, and the trees are cropped by it. The artist signed the lower right, “Mary Cassatt.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 73.6 x 60.3 cm (29 x 23 3/4 in.)
    framed: 87.9 x 76.2 cm (34 5/8 x 30 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.99

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by (Durand-Ruel et Cie, Paris); sold 25 October 1926 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1893

  • Exposition Mary Cassatt, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1893, no. 15 as Rêverie

1895

  • Exposition of Paintings, Pastels and Etchings by Miss Mary Cassatt, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1895, no. 12.

1920

  • Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1920, no. 15.

1926

  • An Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1926, no.9.

1930

  • Utställning Av Amerikansk Konst, Kungl. Akademien för de fria konsterna, Stockholm, 1930, no. 17.

1932

  • Exhibition of Paintings by American Impressionist and Other Artists of the Period "1880-1900", Brooklyn Museum, 1932, no.15, as Woman with Red Carnation

1933

  • Exhibition of Oils and Pastels by Mary Cassatt, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1933-1934, no. 5, as Woman with Carnation.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1998

  • Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, The Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998-1999, no. 67, as Revery (Réverie) (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 44, repro., as Femme à L'oeillet Rouge.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 44, repro., as Woman with Red Carnation

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 43, repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 53, repro., as Woman with a Red Carnation

1965

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 84, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 22, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 35, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 564, no. 861, color repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 41, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Mary Cassatt

Wikidata ID

Q20190284

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