Provenance
The sitter's father, and the artist's brother, Alexander Johnston Cassatt [1839-1906], Philadelphia; gift to his granddaughter, and the artist's grandniece, Lois Buchanan Cassatt Thayer [1894-1977], Haverford, Pennsylvania;[1] gift, by 1954, to her daughter, and the artist's great-grandniece, Julie Thayer Iselin Vehr, Washington, D.C., and Middleburg, Virginia;[2] gift 2015 to NGA.
[1] This granddaughter was the sitter's daughter by his first wife, Emily Louise Phillips.
[2] Information about the painting's descent in the sitter's family was provided by Mrs. Vehr.
Accession Number
2015.41.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 147.96 × 109.86 cm (58 1/4 × 43 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift from the Family of Col. Edward Buchanan Cassatt
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was the only American painter who exhibited with the Impressionists, and Eddy Cassatt from 1875 is a portrait of her young nephew from the period before she had fully developed the Impressionist style that would make her reputation. The 1875 date places this in Cassatt's pre-Impressionist period, when she was still working in a dark palette influenced by Spanish painting and the Old Masters. The portrait demonstrates Cassatt's ability to capture a child's character with direct observation—a skill that would become the foundation of her mature style, even after she abandoned the dark palette for the light colors of Impressionism.
Cultural Impact
Eddy Cassatt is an important document in Cassatt's artistic development because it shows her pre-Impressionist style, before the 1877 meeting with Degas that would transform her approach to painting. The dark palette and the Spanish influence are still present, but the direct observation of the child's character and the compositional boldness are already there—waiting for the Impressionist technique that would allow Cassatt to express them more fully.
Why It Matters
Eddy Cassatt is pre-Impressionist Cassatt: her nephew rendered in a dark palette influenced by Spanish painting and the Old Masters, but with the direct observation of a child's character that would become the foundation of her mature style. The 1875 date makes this a document of Cassatt before Degas transformed her approach to painting.
