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Lot Essay
C’est à la suite du décès de sa soeur en 1882 que Mary Cassatt commence les portraits de mères et enfants qui deviendront son sujet de prédilection. Sara au bonnet et au manteau est l’illustration parfaite de l’habileté extraordinaire de Cassatt à saisir le naturel et la personnalité de ses modèles dans ses portraits. C’est vers 1900 que le pastel deviendra l'une des techniques privilégiées de l’artiste, lui permettant ainsi de travailler de manière spontanée, rapide et expressive. C’est au même moment que les commandes des collectionneurs se multiplient. Les deux grands marchands de l’impressionnisme, Ambroise Vollard et Paul Durand-Ruel, se rapprochent de Cassatt pour lui acheter des oeuvres et l’exposer. Sa première exposition personnelle aura lieu à Paris en 1891. Harriet K. Straits dit au sujet de l’utilisation du pastel par l'artiste : «Il n’y a pas de doutes, le pastel, souvent considéré comme de la peinture sèche, offre à Cassatt la possibilité d’explorer les relations chromatiques avec plus d’immédiateté que la peinture, qui ne peut lui ofrir la spontanéité d’exécution qu’elle recherche.» (Innovation and Tradition in Mary Cassatt's Pastels: A Study of Her Methods and Materials, in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, Chicago, Illinois, 1999, p. 217). L’infuence de son ami et mentor, Edgar Degas, a certes aussi joué un rôle dans l’exploration de ce medium par Cassatt. C’est dans son atelier qu’elle s'essaye aux différentes techniques d’impressions (gravure, pointe-sèche et aquatinte). À l’instar de Degas elle réalisera des contre-épreuves au pastel, où à partir d’un pastel original elle crée une image supplémentaire sur une autre feuille. Le transfert des pigments du pastel sur la nouvelle feuille crée ainsi une image en miroir de la première. Ensuite, Cassatt retravaille et rehausse chaque épreuve résultant en deux oeuvres proches mais bien distinctes. La contre-épreuve de Sara au bonnet et au manteau se trouve dans les collections de la National Gallery de Washington (fig 1.) Notre pastel, en comparaison avec la contre-épreuve de la National Gallery, est sensiblement plus forte et mieux défnie, tant dans les couleurs que dans la précision des traits du visage. Cassatt utilise les propriétés poudreuses du pastel pour modeler avec grand soin le visage de Sara, ainsi que pour contraster et harmoniser le manteau et le bonnet dans des tons roses, bruns et bleus. Sara est la petite-flle de l’ancien président Émile Loubet, voisin de Cassatt à Mesnil Theribus où elle avait acheté le château de Beaufresne. Elle était l'un des modèles favoris de Cassatt, comme en témoignent l’intimité qui émane de ce portrait et le grand soin de son exécution. Notre oeuvre a probablement été offerte à son premier propriétaire, le Docteur Louis Funk-Bretano, obstétricien à Paris et a été soigneusement conservée dans la famille depuis lors.
It was following the death of her sister in 1882 that Mary Cassatt focused her art on the depiction of mothers and children. Sara au bonnet et au manteau is the perfect illustration of her extraordinary skill in capturing the presence and personality of the model in her portraiture. Pastel became Cassatt's preferred technique from around 1900, the medium allowing her to execute a work rapidly, and in expressive and spontaneous style. It was around the time the present work was executed that demand for her work took of, and both Ambroise Vollard and Paul Durand Ruel, the two leading dealers for the Impressionist artists, each approached Cassatt in order to acquire works for their galleries. Her first one woman show was held in Paris in 1891. Harriet K. Straits has written in relation to Cassatt’s preference for the pastel medium: "no doubt the pastel - often considered as a form of dry painting - offered Cassatt the opportunity to explore chromatic relationships with greater immediacy than in painting, which did not ofer her the spontaneity of execution which she sought." (Innovation and Tradition in Mary Cassatt's Pastels: A Study of Her Methods and Materials, in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, Chicago, 1999, p. 217). The importance of her friend and mentor, Edgar Degas, is also particularly noteworthy in relation to Mary Cassatt's investigations into technique. It was in his studio that Cassatt would learn the different printing techniques (such as etching, drypoint and aquatint), mediums which would enhance the experimental approach she adopted towards her art. In particular, Cassatt would adopt from Degas the technique of the pastel counter-proof, whereby she would create from an original pastel an additional image on a second sheet of paper. The transfer of pigments from the pastel to the new sheet creates a 'mirror' image of the frst work. Following the transfer, Cassatt would then heighten each work in turn in order to produce two related but quite distinct images. The counter-proof to Sara au bonnet et au manteau forms part of the collection of the National Gallery of Washington D. C. (fig. 1.) In comparison to the National Gallery’s counter proof, the pastel in the present drawing is noticeably stronger and more defned both in terms of the colour range and the defnition of the sitter’s features. Here, Cassatt uses the powdery quality of the pastel to model the sitter’s face in great detail, as well as to successfully contrast and harmonize the coat and bonnet with tones of pink, brown and blue. Sarah was the granddaughter of the previous French president Emile Loubet, a neighbour of Cassatt’s in Mesnil Theribus where the artist had acquired the château de Beaufresne. Notwithstanding her excellent parentage, Sarah was evidently a favorite model for Cassatt, and the present pastel intimately illustrates the care which the artist took in creating her tender portraits of the young girl. The present drawing was likely gifted to its frst owner Dr. Louis Funk-Bretano, an obstetrician in Paris, and has been carefully conserved within the same family since.
It was following the death of her sister in 1882 that Mary Cassatt focused her art on the depiction of mothers and children. Sara au bonnet et au manteau is the perfect illustration of her extraordinary skill in capturing the presence and personality of the model in her portraiture. Pastel became Cassatt's preferred technique from around 1900, the medium allowing her to execute a work rapidly, and in expressive and spontaneous style. It was around the time the present work was executed that demand for her work took of, and both Ambroise Vollard and Paul Durand Ruel, the two leading dealers for the Impressionist artists, each approached Cassatt in order to acquire works for their galleries. Her first one woman show was held in Paris in 1891. Harriet K. Straits has written in relation to Cassatt’s preference for the pastel medium: "no doubt the pastel - often considered as a form of dry painting - offered Cassatt the opportunity to explore chromatic relationships with greater immediacy than in painting, which did not ofer her the spontaneity of execution which she sought." (Innovation and Tradition in Mary Cassatt's Pastels: A Study of Her Methods and Materials, in Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, Chicago, 1999, p. 217). The importance of her friend and mentor, Edgar Degas, is also particularly noteworthy in relation to Mary Cassatt's investigations into technique. It was in his studio that Cassatt would learn the different printing techniques (such as etching, drypoint and aquatint), mediums which would enhance the experimental approach she adopted towards her art. In particular, Cassatt would adopt from Degas the technique of the pastel counter-proof, whereby she would create from an original pastel an additional image on a second sheet of paper. The transfer of pigments from the pastel to the new sheet creates a 'mirror' image of the frst work. Following the transfer, Cassatt would then heighten each work in turn in order to produce two related but quite distinct images. The counter-proof to Sara au bonnet et au manteau forms part of the collection of the National Gallery of Washington D. C. (fig. 1.) In comparison to the National Gallery’s counter proof, the pastel in the present drawing is noticeably stronger and more defned both in terms of the colour range and the defnition of the sitter’s features. Here, Cassatt uses the powdery quality of the pastel to model the sitter’s face in great detail, as well as to successfully contrast and harmonize the coat and bonnet with tones of pink, brown and blue. Sarah was the granddaughter of the previous French president Emile Loubet, a neighbour of Cassatt’s in Mesnil Theribus where the artist had acquired the château de Beaufresne. Notwithstanding her excellent parentage, Sarah was evidently a favorite model for Cassatt, and the present pastel intimately illustrates the care which the artist took in creating her tender portraits of the young girl. The present drawing was likely gifted to its frst owner Dr. Louis Funk-Bretano, an obstetrician in Paris, and has been carefully conserved within the same family since.