At the Theater (Lydia Cassatt Leaning on Her Arms, Seated in a Loge) - Mary Cassatt
Archival giclée
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Description
A portrait of the artist's sister, Lydia, captured in a theatre box using the soft, atmospheric qualities of pastel.
Mary Cassatt produced this work during her period of active participation in the Impressionist exhibitions in Paris. The subject is her sister, Lydia, who frequently served as a model for the artist. Cassatt captures a private moment within a public space, focusing on the quiet observation of the theatre environment rather than the performance itself.
The composition utilises the medium of pastel to create a soft, atmospheric effect. The application of colour is layered and textured, allowing the paper to contribute to the overall luminosity of the image. Cassatt employs a palette dominated by yellow, green, and red tones, which interact to define the figure and the surrounding theatre box. The lighting appears artificial, reflecting the glow of the auditorium upon the subject's skin and clothing.
Cassatt often explored the lives of women in nineteenth-century society, frequently depicting them in domestic or social settings. This work demonstrates her interest in the interplay of light and colour, a hallmark of the Impressionist movement. The perspective is intimate, placing the viewer in close proximity to the subject. The lack of rigid outlines contributes to the sense of immediacy and spontaneity, characteristic of her work in this medium. By focusing on her sister, Cassatt maintains a personal connection to the subject, which informs the relaxed posture and contemplative expression captured in the piece.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
At the Theater (Lydia Cassatt Leaning on Her Arms, Seated in a Loge) - Mary Cassatt
Artist Biography
Mary Cassatt
She grew up in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), in a prosperous family. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she found the instruction restrictive and the male students hostile. She moved to Paris in 1866, copied old masters in the Louvre, and studied privately with several painters before finding her direction with the Impressionists.
Her subject was women and children in domestic settings: mothers bathing infants, women reading, girls at the opera, women having tea. The subject matter sounds conventional. The treatment is not. She observed her subjects with the same unsentimental attention Degas brought to dancers. The compositions are cropped and angled, influenced by Japanese prints and by Degas's habit of painting people from unexpected viewpoints. Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878) shows a child sprawled across a chair with the boredom and physical abandon that adults rarely notice and painters rarely record.
She never married. She was wealthy enough not to need to sell her work. She used her position and her connections to persuade American collectors, particularly the Havemeyers, to buy Impressionist paintings. The Havemeyer collection, much of it acquired on Cassatt's advice, was donated to the Metropolitan Museum. She shaped the taste of American collectors more than any other single individual.
She developed cataracts and was nearly blind by 1914. She stopped painting. She died in 1926, at eighty-two.
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