Too real to be liked? Mary Cassatt's Lady at the Tea Table without filters

Lady at the Tea Table, photo taken at my first visit to The Met

 

Today, selfies and group photos can quickly make their subjects prettier, thinner and younger with easy editing. Strategic crops can eliminate pounds and filters can erase wrinkles. But, for those whose portraits have been painted by famous artists who will not adjust the lens, what happens to the "rejects"? In the case of Mary Casssatt's Lady at the Tea Table, the painting was stashed away in the Impressionist's attic for years. 

Fortunately, Cassatt's longtime friend, Louisine Havemeyer, convinced her to eventually to take it out of hiding and donate it to the Met in 1923. It still resides in my favorite New York museum, and I first saw it up close and personal in 2019, the year my son, Matt, moved to Manhattan.

The Met's teapots crafted in Paul Revere's shop. Subject in photo may benefit from strategic editing. 

Cassatt (1844 - 1926), came from an affluent family in Pennsylvania, but spent much of her adult life in France. She became part of the changing art scene in Paris, and although not an over-night-success, she was invited by Edgar Degas to show her work with the Impressionists. In the Impressionist Exhibit of 1877, she displayed eleven works, some of which were criticized for colors that were too bright and portraits that were too accurate to be flattering to the subjects.

Those opinions were shared by the family of the subject in Lady at the Tea Table (1883-1885).  The "lady" was Mary Dickinson Riddle, first cousin of Cassatt's mother. Riddle's daughter had given Cassatt the blue, white and gold-trimmed tea set in the picture, and the artist painted the portrait in appreciation of the gift.

Riddle's daughter did not like the portrait, thinking Cassatt made her mother's nose too large. So, Cassatt stashed it in her attic for years.

There's a story that Riddle's family came forward to claim the portrait once it was out of hiding and on display at The Met. Cassatt's response - and I paraphrase here - "not a chance".

I'm glad I got the chance to view this lovely portrait and every time I return to The Met, I visit it again, along with the collection of teapots, Gilded Age furniture and silver tea accoutrements (including those from Paul Revere's shop). 

While we may not always like how the camera - or the artist - shows our authentic selves, maybe there's a lesson here to embrace "non-traditional beauty".  The Met website has a short video, "The Nose" produced in 2011 by Masha Turchinsky, then their Creative Producer, now CEO of Hudson River Museum. She takes pride in her prominent facial feature. Spoiler alert:  Lady at the Tea Table gets a mention.

Looking back at some of my photos taken at The Met, circa 2019, looks like I forgot to crop or apply filters, though the only editing I regularly apply is erasing the noise (people I don't know, Exit signs, etc).  Maybe Lady Visiting the Met can stay "as is".   😉

The Met's teapot collection

Another visit , NY couple at FLW home

                           

Sources:  The Met, Wikipedia and Everything Explained Today. Thanks to Pam & Quint for sharing their notes on a recent lecture from The Met on Cassatt and Morisot which included Lady at the Tea Table.