On a Balcony
1878–79
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
85.2 × 65.5 cm (33 9/16 × 25 13/16 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26650
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Shown at the 1880 Impressionist exhibition, On a Balcony depicts a woman in a private garden surrounded by flowers rendered in energetic brushstrokes of red, blue, yellow, and pink. Mary Cassatt focused on the activities of middle- and upper-class women in society—from public outings like the theater to domestic settings such as this one. Here, the blue rail of the balcony, visible near the top of the painting, defines the enclosed space of a garden, and the sitter’s morning dress further indica...
About the Artist
Mary Cassatt · 1844–1926
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker who became the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists. Born to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, she defied social conventions to pursue art professionally, settling permanently in Paris where Edgar Degas invited her to join the Impressionist group in 1877. Her paintings of mothers and children—rendered with Impre...