Portrait Of A Woman 1872

Curator: Mary Cassatt painted this oil on canvas portrait of an unnamed woman in 1872. It's currently held in a private collection. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by her gaze. There’s a depth and a melancholy there that feels incredibly intimate. Curator: The intimacy is key to understanding Cassatt's overall artistic project, which often focuses on the private lives and inner worlds of women in the late 19th century. But there is something classical, too. Do you notice that? Editor: Yes, certainly a deliberate reference, and a kind of challenge maybe? The draping of the dress is almost like a toga. Instead of idealizing the sitter, Cassatt captures her humanity and inner emotional life in a time when academic conventions emphasized staged and flawless representation. Curator: You can almost imagine her as an ancient Roman in some ways, yes, draped as she is and depicted in that rich ochre background. The artist is looking backward as she experiments. It speaks to the long visual history of representing women while still feeling modern and, I think, subtly subversive. Cassatt is both participant in and a critic of that history. Editor: It’s almost as if she's pulling the tropes of portraiture apart to make something that’s truthful in a completely different way. And what about that slightly smudged mouth? Not traditionally pretty. It gives her a palpable sense of agency and psychological independence, which for women was rare. I keep coming back to her eyes – such modern eyes, full of possibility. Curator: Yes! Cassatt’s brushwork and the woman's slightly averted gaze definitely imply some ambivalence on the sitter's part. A complex identity! I’m fascinated by how she manages to convey so much about this individual woman within the established language of portraiture. Editor: The gaze is everything. This portrait encourages viewers to actually acknowledge women's real, complex presence and lived experiences. Thanks for showing me this painting, its mood will stay with me. Curator: Agreed, a powerful statement rendered with surprising nuance.