Mary Cassatt 1845 - 1926

Durand-Ruel, Paris, circa 1924 (likely acquired from the artist)
Durand-Ruel, New York, by 1939
Mary Benjamin (Mrs. Henry Huttleston) Rogers, by 1947
Millicent Rogers (her daughter)
Peter A. Salm (her son), New York
Private Collection (acquired from the above)

Paris, France, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Exposition de tableaux et pastels par Mary Cassatt, March 1924, no. 10 (as Au jardin)
New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings by Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, October-November 1939, no. 8 (as Jeune fille du chapeau marron, au jardin)
New York, Wildenstein & Co., A Loan Exhibition of Mary Cassatt, October-December 1947, no. 14, illustrated (as Young Girl with a Brown Hat)
Tokyo, Japan, Istetan Museum of Art, The Art of Mary Cassatt: 1844-1926, June-July 1981, no. 25, illustrated (as Celeste in a Brown Hat)
New York, Coe Kerr Gallery, Mary Cassatt: An American Observer, October 1984, no. 25, illustrated (as Celeste in a Brown Hat)
New York, Coe Kerr Gallery, American Impressionism, November-December 1985, no. 10, illustrated fig. 25 (as Celeste in a Brown Hat)
Roslyn Harbor, New York, Nassau County Museum of Art, Town and Country: In Pursuit of Life's Pleasures, May-August 1996, illustrated (as Portrait of Celeste)

Robert M. Coates, "The Art Galleries: Reviewing Mary Cassatt," The New Yorker, vol. 23, November 8, 1947, pp. 94, 96 (as Young Girl with a Brown Hat)
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington, D.C., 1970, no. 196, p. 100, illustrated
Grace Glueck, "Mary Cassatt, Images by an American Impressionist," The New York Times, October 19, 1984, pp. C1, C28 (as Celeste in a Brown Hat)
Diana Strazdes, American Paintings and Sculpture to 1945 in the Carnegie Museum of Art, New York, 1992, p. 130 (as Celeste in a Brown Hat)

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is strip lined. There is one thin horizontal ridge in the canvas at center left and one area of paint separation in the jacket collar of the figure. Under UV: The face and hand of the figure fluoresce erratically, most likely due to a prior cleaning or an uneven application of varnish.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Judith A. Barter observes, “Cassatt’s deepening interest in nature, and women’s relationship to it, coincided with a shift in her lifestyle, as she began after 1889 to spend more time in the French countryside, renting the Château de Bachivillers, near Gisors….Increasingly she presented women and children in outdoor settings rather than in domestic or public interiors” (Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, Chicago, Illinois, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 86-87). Many of Cassatt’s depictions of solitary women portrayed scenes of everyday activities, such as reading or sewing. In the present work, however, the young Céleste sits upon a slatted bench in a garden, completely absorbed in her own thoughts. Her gaze—although distant—engages the viewer and demonstrates Cassatt’s uncanny ability to capture the essence of her subject—in this case, a contemplative, quiet moment.

Mary Cassatt received her early artistic training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where she began studying in 1860 at the age of 16. In 1865, she left Philadelphia for Paris and took private lessons with Jean-Léon Gérôme, as women were not allowed to study at the Académie Julian. With the exception of a brief return to Philadelphia in 1870, Cassatt remained in Europe for the rest of her life, settling permanently in Paris in 1875. Just two years later, Cassatt became the only American artist to join the French Impressionist group, at the invitation of her friend Edgar Degas. She later recalled, "I accepted with joy. At last I could work with absolute independence without considering the opinion of a jury. I had already recognized who were my true masters. I admired Monet, Courbet, and Degas. I hated conventional art. I had begun to live" (Achille Segard,Un Peintre des Enfants et des Mères: Mary Cassatt, Paris, France, 1913, pp. 7-8).