Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux: an Analytical Comparison of Two New Women And
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Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux: An Analytical Comparison of Two New Women and Issues Surrounding Femininity, Modernity, and Nineteenth-Century Feminism A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Hayley D.K. McGuirk April 2017 © 2017 Hayley D.K. McGuirk. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux: An Analytical Comparison of Two New Women and Issues Surrounding Femininity, Modernity, and Nineteenth-Century Feminism by HAYLEY D.K. MCGUIRK has been approved for the School of Art + Design and the College of Fine Arts by Jody Lamb Associate Professor of Fine Arts Elizabeth Sayrs Interim Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT MCGUIRK, HAYLEY D.K., M.A., April 2017, Art History Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux: An Analytical Comparison of Two New Women and Issues Surrounding Femininity, Modernity, and Nineteenth-Century Feminism Director ofThesis: Jody Lamb Forging reputations as the greatest women artists of their generation, Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux embodied the autonomous, ambitious, and complex characteristics that came to represent the New Woman at the turn of the nineteenth century. Their comparable levels of success as well as their conflicting ideologies concerning the role of feminine expression in art resulted in a personal and professional rivalry. Shifting the debate away from which of these women was the superior artist, scholars have begun to dispute the social and symbolic implications of their work in an effort to determine which artist proved to be the exemplary feminist. Utilizing inferences drawn from autobiographical and primary sources, secondary sources, and iconographic and semiotic analysis, this study explores the divergent impact of Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux’s work as visual manifestations of the New Woman, their diverse but equally significant contributions to the equal rights movement and the professionalization of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century woman artist. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 3 List of Figures ............................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 1: Biographies of Cassatt, Beaux, and The New Woman ............................... 18 The New Woman ................................................................................................... 21 Mary Cassatt .......................................................................................................... 26 Cecilia Beaux......................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 2: Artwork Analysis...................................................................................... 48 Depictions of Motherhood ..................................................................................... 49 Mary Cassatt: Mother and Child (1889) ............................................................. 50 Cecilia Beaux: Les derniers jours d’enfance (1883-1885) ................................... 57 Depictions of Modern Women ............................................................................... 61 Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman Mural (1893) ..................................................... 61 Cecilia Beaux: Sita and Sarita (1893-1894) ........................................................ 66 Mary Cassatt: Carriage Ride (1881) ................................................................... 71 Contemplative Women .......................................................................................... 73 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 76 Chapter 3: Suffrage, Tea, and the Art Market ............................................................. 78 Cassatt’s Suffrage Exhibition ................................................................................. 79 Beaux: Suffrage and the Professional Woman ........................................................ 83 Cassatt and Beaux: Validating the New Woman..................................................... 86 Cassatt and Beaux: Mentors and Advisors .............................................................. 90 5 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 100 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 106 6 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Mary Cassatt, Emmie and Her Child, oil on canvas, 1889. ............................. 109 Figure 2. Cecilia Beaux, Les derniers jours d' enfance, oil on canvas, 1883-1885. ....... 110 Figure 3. Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), material unknown, 1896. ............................................................................................................... 111 Figure 4. Mary Cassatt, The Mandolin Player, oil on canvas, 1868. .............................. 112 Figure 5. Mary Cassatt, The Cup of Tea, oil on canvas, 1879. ....................................... 113 Figure 6. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman Mural, 1893. .................................................. 114 Figure 7. Mary MacMonnies, Primitive Woman Mural, 1893. ...................................... 114 Figure 8. Cecilia Beaux, Shell Studies, graphite and wash on wove paper, 1875. ......... 115 Figure 9. Cecilia Beaux, Plaque, porcelain, 1880. ......................................................... 115 Figure 10. Cecilia Beaux, Portrait of Cecil Kent Drinker, oil on canvas, 1891. ............ 116 Figure 11. Cecilia Beaux, Twilight Confidences, oil on canvas, 1888. .......................... 117 Figure 12. Cecilia Beaux, After the Meeting, oil on canvas, 1914. ................................ 118 Figure 13. Cecilia Beaux, Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 1925.......................................... 119 Figure 14. Cecilia Beaux, The Dancing Lesson (Dorothea and Francesca), oil on canvas, 1898................................................................................................................................. 120 Figure 15. Gari Melchers, Mother and Child, pastel, date unknown. ............................. 121 Figure 16. Mary Cassatt, Auguste Reading to Her Daughter, oil on canvas, 1910. ....... 122 Figure 17. Mary Cassatt, Portrait of Alexander J. Cassatt and His Son Robert Kelso Cassatt, oil on canvas, 1884-1885. ................................................................................. 123 Figure 18. Mary Cassatt, Center panel of the Modern Woman Mural, 1893 (detail). .... 124 Figure 19. Mary Cassatt, Left and Right panels of the Modern Woman Mural, 1893 ... 125 Figure 20. Cecilia Beaux, Sita and Sarita, oil on canvas, 1893-1894. ........................... 126 7 Figure 21. Eduard Manet, Olympia, oil on canvas, 1863. .............................................. 127 Figure 22. James McNeil Whistler, Symphony in White No.1, oil on canvas, 1862. ...... 128 Figure 23. Mary Cassatt, Woman and Child Driving, oil on canvas, 1881. ................... 129 Figure 24. Cecilia Beaux, The Dreamer, oil on canvas, 1894. ....................................... 130 Figure 25. Mary Cassatt, Portrait of a Lady (Reading 'Le Figaro'), oil on canvas, 1878. ......................................................................................................................................... 131 Figure 26. Photograph of the Suffrage Loan Exhibition at Knoedler Gallery, 1915.. .... 132 Figure 27. Installation view of the Suffrage Loan Exhibition, detail of Cassatt’s wall. Knoedler and Co. Galleries, New York. ......................................................................... 133 Figure 28. Cecilia Beaux, Sarah Elizabeth Doyle, oil on canvas. .................................. 134 Figure 29. Cecilia Beaux, Portrait of Eliza S. Turner, oil on canvas, 1897. .................. 135 Figure 30. Mary Cassatt, Portrait of Louisine Havemeyer and Her Daughter, oil on canvas, 1895. ................................................................................................................... 136 Figure 31. Cecilia Beaux, M. Adelaide Nutting, oil on canvas, 1906. ............................ 137 Figure 32. Cecilia Beaux, William Henry Howell, oil on canvas, 1910. ........................ 138 Figure 33. Cecilia Beaux, Portrait of Marion Reilly, oil on canvas, 1918. .................... 139 Figure 34. Cecilia Beaux, Caroline B. Hazard, oil on canvas, 1908. ............................. 140 Figure 35. Edgar Degas, Portrait of Mary Cassatt, oil on canvas, c. 1884. ................... 141 8 INTRODUCTION French Impressionist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) and American portraitist Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) formulated prominent careers during “the greatest period of female social progress in history.”1 As such, they became integral members of a movement that would radically redefine socially circumscribed views of female ability, categorical gender spheres, and the prospect of female professionalism. As the New Woman’s movement began to permeate across Western Europe and the United States throughout the late nineteenth century, a shift from Victorian to Modern culture facilitated women’s