Mary Cassatt
She has infinite talent.
– Edgar Degas on Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt was the only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists, fundamentally reshaping art history. This exceptional pastel, Sewing in the Conservatory, is soft yet vibrant, exemplifying her mastery of intimate domestic scenes rendered through a distinctly feminine perspective.
Executed in pastel—a medium Cassatt adopted under Degas's influence in the 1880s—this work demonstrates her technical virtuosity. Her sophisticated handling allows for subtle gradations of color and light that bring remarkable life to the subject's gentle complexion and the blues in her dress.
Cassatt's pastels are exceptionally rare, and examples with such extraordinary vibrancy are rarer still. This luminous work captures a revolutionary moment in art history—depicting women's daily experiences as worthy artistic subjects when 19thcentury art largely ignored female perspectives. Rather than presenting sewing as mere domestic labor, Cassatt transforms this intimate moment into profound artistic expression, celebrating the dignity found in women's quiet work within the conservatory's filtered light.
The provenance traces an illustrious path beginning with the artist and then Ambroise Vollard, the legendary Parisian dealer who championed the Impressionists. It has also been exhibited across the country, including at the Terra Museum of
American Art and Norton Museum of Art. The work is featured in Adelyn Dohme Breeskin's definitive 1970 catalogue raisonné as number 461 and updated in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné as number 620.
A groundbreaking artist, Cassatt has been the focus of major retrospective exhibitions organized by the world’s leading museums, including the Musée d’Orsay. Most recently, the important 2024-25 exhibition, Mary Cassatt at Work, was on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to great acclaim. Her works are also prominently featured in prestigious permanent collections, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and many more.
PROVENANCE
The artist
Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired from the artist, inventory no. 41)
Martin Fabiani, Paris (heir of Vollard)
Mlle. Fouque et Mlle. Deschryvère, 1945 (acquired directly from above)
International Gallery, Chicago, 1962 (acquired directly from above)
Bernice S. (Mrs. Samuel E.) Johnson, Chicago, by 1969
Ursula and R. Stanley Johnson Family Collection, Chicago
Private Collection, Palm Beach
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
LITERATURE
Journal de l'amateur d'art, 10 Feb 1960, p. 20 (illustrated)
La Tribune de Genève, 2 May 1961, p. 15 (illustrated)
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington D.C., 1970, p. 177, no. 461 (illustrated)
This work is included as no. 620 in the Cassatt Committee's revision of Adelyn Dohme Breeskin's catalogue raisonné of the works of Mary Cassatt, with additional provenance and exhibition history
EXHIBITED
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, December 10, 1959, no. 4, as Jeune femme tricotant
Geneva, Galerie Motte, April 25, 1961, no. 244, as Jeune femme brodant
Chicago, International Galleries, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926: Retrospective Exhibition, Nov. - Dec., 1965, no. 10 (illustrated)
Evanston, IL, Terra Museum of American Art, Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections, Jun. 25 - Sep. 2, 1983, no. 31, as Girl Knitting (illustrated)
Chicago, R. S. Johnson Fine Art, Mary Cassatt 1844-1826, Winter 1997-98, no. 8, as Sewing in the Conservatory (illustrated)
West Palm Beach, FL, Norton Museum of Art, Mary Cassatt: Pastels and Drawings at the Norton Museum, Aug. 19 - Oct. 30, 2006
LITERATURE
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington D.C., 1970, p. 177, no. 461 (illustrated)
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington D.C., 1970, p. 177, no. 461 (illustrated)
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings, Washington D.C., 1970, p. 177, no. 461 (illustrated)
La Tribune de Genève, 2 May 1961, p. 15 (illustrated)
La Tribune de Genève, 2 May 1961, p. 15 (illustrated)
La Tribune de Genève, 2 May 1961, p. 15 (illustrated)
Journal de l'amateur d'art, 10 Feb 1960, p. 20 (illustrated)
Journal de l'amateur d'art, 10 Feb 1960, p. 20 (illustrated)
Chicago, International Galleries, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926: Retrospective Exhibition, Nov. - Dec., 1965, no. 10 (illustrated)
Chicago, International Galleries, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926: Retrospective Exhibition, Nov. - Dec., 1965, no. 10 (illustrated)
Chicago, International Galleries, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926: Retrospective Exhibition, Nov. - Dec., 1965, no. 10 (illustrated)
Chicago, International Galleries, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926: Retrospective Exhibition, Nov. - Dec., 1965, no. 10 (illustrated)
Evanston, IL, Terra Museum of American Art, Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections, Jun. 25 - Sep. 2, 1983, no. 31, as Girl Knitting (illustrated)
Evanston, IL, Terra Museum of American Art, Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections, Jun. 25 - Sep. 2, 1983, no. 31, as Girl Knitting (illustrated)
Evanston, IL, Terra Museum of American Art, Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections, Jun. 25 - Sep. 2, 1983, no. 31, as Girl Knitting (illustrated)
May 2025
AUCTION COMPARABLES
Mary Cassatt
Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right
a tel, g uache, wate c l a d cha c al with etallic ai t a e
Height 64 1 x Width 50 5 c
Height 25 236 x Width 19 882 i 1878
Mary Cassatt
A GOODNIGHT HUG
a tel b w a e
Height 42 x Width 62 8 c
Height 16 535 x Width 24 724 i 1880
Mary Cassatt
Young mother sewing (study)
a tel a e
Height 92 7 x Width 72 4 c
Height 36 496 x Width 28 504 i 1902
Mary Cassatt
Head of Simone in a large plumed hat, looking left
a tel
Height 43 2 x Width 47 c
Height 17 008 x Width 18 504 i 1900 1901
Mary Cassatt
Portrait de Marie-Thérèse
Gaillard
a tel
Height 53 6 x Width 56 9 c
Height 21 102 x Width 22 402 i
Mary Cassatt
Sara, with Bonnet Streamers
Loose, Feeding Her Dog
a tel a e
Height 58 4 x Width 43 5 c
Height 22 992 x Width 17 126 i 1901
20 October 2022 over 2 years ago Ch i tie New Y k
The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection: Volume 1 | Important Paintings and Decorative Arts, Evening Sale – [Lot 00003]
14 May 2018 about 7 years ago S theby New Y k Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale – [Lot 00011] e t 700,000 1,000,000
02 December 2009 over 15 years ago Ch i tie New Y k Important American Paintings Drawings and Sculpture – [Lot 00087] e t 800,000 1,200,000 USD 2,434,500
01 December 2004 over 20 years ago S theby New Y k
American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture – [Lot 00170]
e t 800,000 1,000,000 USD 1,408,000 USD ↑ 41% e t
25 April 2002 about 23 years ago
Ch i tie New Y k
Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture – [Lot 00013]
e t 1,000,000 1,500,000 USD 1,329,500 USD
19 November 2024 6 months ago
Philli New Y k Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale – [Lot 00023]
e t 700,000 1,000,000 USD 914,400 USD
MUSEUM COMPARABLES
Mary Cassatt| The Long Gloves
1886
Medium: Pastel on paper
Dimensions: 251/2 x 211/4 inches | 64.77 x 53.97 cm
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco San Francisco, CA, United States
Mary Cassatt | Sketch of Mother Looking at Thomas
Circa 1893
Medium: Pastel on brown paper
Dimensions: 27 x 221/2 inches | 68.58 x 57.15 cm
High Museum of Art
Atlanta, GA, United States
Mary Cassatt | Woman Arranging Her Veil
Circa 1890
Medium: Pastel on wove paper
Dimensions: 251/2 x 211/2 inches | 64.8 x 54.6 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Mary Cassatt| Susan in a Straw Bonnet
Circa 1878-88
Medium: Pastel on paper
Dimensions: 241/2 x 201/8 inches | 62.3 x 51.2 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL, United States
