Steps in Art History

Description
The Boating Party by Mary Cassatt was painted in 1893, during the winter in of 1893-1894 in Antibes located in
the Mediterranean coast of France. The reason may have been due to the birth of her sister-in-law Eugenie Carter
whom she had conflict with because of their opposite ideologies. Cassatt was a feminist and supported the
women’s suffrage, she even showed her works in line with the exhibition which supports the movement. But unlike
her, Eugenie was anti-suffrage and boycotted the show. In Cassatt’s response, she sold off her work hence the
painting of The Boating Party inspired by the birth of her niece, Ellen Mary.

Analysis
The influence of Japanese prints was very visible to this painting of Mary Cassatt, which is completely different
from her style of painting back then. In her previous works, she used to paint with pastel colors and feathery
brushwork. When she painted The Boating Party, she was able to make use of flat colors and solid forms which
resulted to bold and decorative patterns far different from what she used to do. The colors used was also
determining the difference of the woman and child’s clothing from the boatman. It was painted in flattened planes,
which shows a lot for her aim to express the simplicity of the work. The angle was also placed in an
unconventional way that somehow showed abstract shapes in the painting. Unlike other paintings, Cassatt was
able to position her work in a different viewpoint, that allows the people who see it to feel as if they belong to the
painting, as another passenger. This style of Cassatt puts her in-line with famous post-impressionist painters as
Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Interpretation

It is said that she inherited this ability from her mother, Katherine Cassatt. Mary Cassatt was only sixteen when
she arrived at the decision to pursue being an artist, which was far different from what most of the women in age
and social standing want and aim in life which is marriage. Her family rejected the idea of her becoming an artist
even when she started to study about painting, due to the possible exposure to feminist ideologies and the male
students which engage in an unconventional lifestyle. She settled in Paris where she remained in most of her
lifetime. She educated herself in the process of permitted copying paintings in Louvre Museum which is
considered to be low-paid, through a private instruction because women were not allowed to be admitted in the
leading art academy in France which is the École des Beaux-Arts. When she met Edgar Degas, her life as an
artist began to turn around because she was invited to join the Impressionist circle which was hard to get into
because women were not welcome in the Paris café which tend to be the source of ideas of the Impressionist.
She was often perceived to be outspoken and self-centered which is a result of her becoming aware of how her
fellow female artists were being dismissed with contempt in their process of expressing criticisms unless they
have a backer which can change the favor. She had admired Degas which also influenced her in using pastels in
her early works. Usually, her work subjects are domestic paintings, specifically mothers and children.

Judgment
Due to the treatment of the women back in her time, it can be the reason why most of her subjects are women. It
also tells how her work tries to give women a spotlight in the field of arts. She also happens to be a critic when it
comes to her surroundings, her awareness allowed her to be enlightened and use it as an inspiration to pursue
things even more and express it through art. Being socially active allowed her to know better and create better.
This creation of her, The Boating Party is considered one of the most ambitious canvas of Cassatt. And to
commemorate her and her works, she was the sixth person in the annually-issued American Painting Series that
was released in Washington, DC on November 17, 1966. The stamp which contained her painting The Boating
Party was designed by Robert J, Jones. It was a 5-cent stamp which was authorized for printing in 120 million by
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. To sum up how she was able to influence within the history, the stamps
were 114, 015, 000 copies when it was sold.

References:

The Boating Party. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mayfieldschools.org/TheBoatingParty.aspx

Jochim, M. (2017, May 22). Mary Cassatt “The Boating Party”. Retrieved from
https://stampaday.wordpress.com/2017/05/22/mary-cassatt/

N. (2009). The Boating Party, 1893/1894 - Picturing America. Retrieved from

https://picturingamerica.neh.gov/downloads/pdfs/Resource_Guide_Chapters/PictAmer_Resource_Book_Chapter_
14A.pdf