We look slightly down onto a woman dressed in golden yellows, sitting in a pale green chair, with a nude child sitting in her lap as they both gaze into a mirror in this vertical portrait painting. Both the people have pale, peachy skin. The chair is angled to our left so the woman’s knees and child cant down toward the lower left corner of the composition, and the woman leans onto the arm closer to us. The chair is painted mint green and the rose-pink upholstery is visible on the seat and a corner behind the woman’s shoulder. To our right, the woman’s vibrant, copper-colored hair is pulled loosely to the back of her head. She has a rounded nose, flushed cheeks, and her full, coral-pink lips are closed. Her long dress has a low, U-shaped neckline. The fabric shimmers from pale, cucumber green to light sunshine yellow. The sleeves of the dress split over the shoulder and a second long, goldenrod-yellow sleeve falls from her elbow off the bottom edge of the canvas. An oversized sunflower, larger than the woman’s face, is affixed to her dress near her left shoulder, closer to us. She looks with dark eyes down toward the small, gold-rimmed mirror she holds in her right hand, farther from us. The child also holds the handle of the mirror with both hands, and in the reflection, the child looks back at us with dark eyes, a button nose, and pink lips. The child’s hair in the reflection is the same copper color as the woman’s, but the child on her lap has blond, shoulder-length hair. The woman rests one hand on the child’s left shoulder, closer to us. The child has a rounded belly and smooth, rosy limbs. The woman and child are reflected in a second mirror hanging on the wall alongside them, opposite us. Their reflections are very loosely painted. The wall behind the pair is sage green across the top and it shifts to fawn brown across the bottom. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, especially in the woman’s dress and hair, and are more blended in the bodies and faces. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Mary Cassatt.”

Woman with a Sunflower

Mary Cassatt

We look slightly down onto a woman dressed in golden yellows, sitting in a pale green chair, with a nude child sitting in her lap as they both gaze into a mirror in this vertical portrait painting. Both the people have pale, peachy skin. The chair is angled to our left so the woman’s knees and child cant down toward the lower left corner of the composition, and the woman leans onto the arm closer to us. The chair is painted mint green and the rose-pink upholstery is visible on the seat and a corner behind the woman’s shoulder. To our right, the woman’s vibrant, copper-colored hair is pulled loosely to the back of her head. She has a rounded nose, flushed cheeks, and her full, coral-pink lips are closed. Her long dress has a low, U-shaped neckline. The fabric shimmers from pale, cucumber green to light sunshine yellow. The sleeves of the dress split over the shoulder and a second long, goldenrod-yellow sleeve falls from her elbow off the bottom edge of the canvas. An oversized sunflower, larger than the woman’s face, is affixed to her dress near her left shoulder, closer to us. She looks with dark eyes down toward the small, gold-rimmed mirror she holds in her right hand, farther from us. The child also holds the handle of the mirror with both hands, and in the reflection, the child looks back at us with dark eyes, a button nose, and pink lips. The child’s hair in the reflection is the same copper color as the woman’s, but the child on her lap has blond, shoulder-length hair. The woman rests one hand on the child’s left shoulder, closer to us. The child has a rounded belly and smooth, rosy limbs. The woman and child are reflected in a second mirror hanging on the wall alongside them, opposite us. Their reflections are very loosely painted. The wall behind the pair is sage green across the top and it shifts to fawn brown across the bottom. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, especially in the woman’s dress and hair, and are more blended in the bodies and faces. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Mary Cassatt.”

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
Mary Cassatt
Date
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.)
Department
CF
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Chester Dale Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

11 tags

Subject Matter

  • Portrait Both · 98%

    The catalog’s short description calls the work a vertical portrait painting, and the image centers on a posed woman and child.

  • Nude Both · 99%

    The catalog explicitly describes a nude child, whose exposed body is clearly visible in the image.

  • Flora Both · 99%

    A prominent sunflower is attached to the woman’s dress and is clearly visible near the lower-right portion of the composition.

  • Reflections Both · 99%

    The hand mirror and the larger mirror behind the figures produce visible reflections, including the child’s reflected face.

  • Interiors Visual · 97%

    The figures, chair, wall, and mirrors establish an indoor domestic setting.

Visual Qualities

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 96%

    Saturated yellows, pale greens, peach, coral, copper, and rose tones create a lively, luminous palette, particularly in the dress, sunflower, chair, and skin.

  • Dense Composition Visual · 92%

    The tightly packed figures, chair, fabric, mirrors, and overlapping limbs create a visually dense composition.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 98%

    Broken, clearly visible brushstrokes are especially apparent in the dress, hair, chair, sunflower, and background.

Time Periods

  • 1900 - 1917 Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work to circa 1905, with date fields beginning and ending in 1905.

Furniture and Lighting

  • Mirror Both · 99%

    A small hand mirror is held between the woman and child, and a second mirror is visible behind them.

Source & rights

Mary Cassatt. Woman with a Sunflower. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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