Woman with a Sunflower
c. 1905
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 92.1 x 73.7 cm (36 1/4 x 29 in.) framed: 114.3 x 95.2 cm (45 x 37 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Chester Dale Collection
Accession Number
1963.10.98
Art Historical Context
Mary Cassatt's *Woman with a Sunflower* (c. 1905) captures the quiet elegance of a woman holding a vibrant sunflower, rendered in lush oil on canvas. Measuring92.1 x 73.7 cm, this painting hails from the artist's later career, when the American Impressionist—long based in Paris and a close associate of Edgar Degas—had refined her signature style. Cassatt, who participated in seven Impressionist exhibitions, often depicted women in intimate, everyday moments, infusing them with warmth and psychological depth. By 1905, her work showed a matured palette of bold colors and loose brushwork, moving ...
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...