Sage

TitlePortrait of the Artist DescriptionCassatt painted this self-portrait, one of only two known, a year after Edgar Degas invited her to exhibit with the Impressionists. His influence is reflected in the unusual sage-green background, the attention to contrasting complementary colors, and the figure’s daring asymmetrical pose and indifference to the viewer. Louisine Elder (later Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer), a young American Cassatt had met in Paris in 1874, acquired this self-portrait from the artist by 1879 and lent it to the thirteenth annual exhibition of the American Watercolor Society in New York, in February 1880. CreatorMary Cassatt, 1844-1926 (Artist) MuseumThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA. 1975.319.1 Bequest of Edith H. Proskauer, 1975 Beginning Date1878 Ending Date1878 Date1878 TypeDrawings and Watercolors Format (Medium)Gouache on wove paper laid down to buff-colored wood-pulp paper Format (Extent)23 5/8 x 16 3/16 in. (60.1 x 41.2 cm) IdentifierCAMIO: MMA_.1975.319.1 RightsLicensed for non-commercial, educational use. http://www.metmuseum.org/