Spanish Dancer Wearing a Lace Mantilla
1873
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Victoria Dreyfus
Accession Number
1967.40
Tags
About this artwork
Mary Cassatt spent a few months in Spain in the early 1870s. She went first to Madrid, where she copied the paintings of the Spanish masters, then established a studio in Seville. She made a series of paintings of Spanish life that emphasized the beauty and dress of the local women. This piece was exhibited at the 1874 Paris Salon under the title Ida, where it attracted the attention of French impressionist Edgar Degas. On seeing the work of Cassatt for the first time, Degas commented, âCâes...
Art Historical Context
In 1873, American artist Mary Cassatt ventured to Spain, first studying the masters in Madrid before setting up a studio in Seville There, she captured the vibrant essence of Spanish life through a series of paintings that celebrated the elegance of local women in their traditional attire. *Spanish Dancer Wearing a Laceilla*, originally titled *Ida*, portrays a graceful figure adorned in a delicate lace mantilla, fan, and scarf—elements evoking the cultural richness of Andalusian dance and dress. This oil painting marked a pivotal moment in Cassatt's early career, blending her precise draftsm...
About the Artist
Mary Cassatt
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...