ALS in French, one page both sides, 4.5 x 6, Mesnil-Beaufresne letterhead, no date. Letter to her biographer, art critic Achille Segard. In full (translated): “I will be happy to see you next Wednesday. I will send the car to Chars exactly as last time and at the same hour. If weather permits, he will take you to Pontoise in the afternoon. Do you really think you need to put Miss before my name when you mention it in your book? If I were a man you would not put Mister. This is only a suggestion, but if you ask Mr. Joseph Durand-Ruel I believe he will agree with me. Excuse me for saying this.” She adds a brief postscript: “Saturday the train leaves for Chars at 9.35 am.” In fine condition, with mild wrinkling and light show-through from writing to opposing sides.
Cassatt was known for her depictions of the 'New Woman'—the emerging concept of the educated, independent, and successful woman that Cassatt herself embodied. She never married and established a successful career as a female artist in a field that had until that point been dominated by men. Her artwork followed suit, usually portraying women as single figures—independent, unattached—and oftentimes reading books or newspapers. It is fitting that she would instruct Segard, who published the monograph Mary Cassatt: Peintre des Enfants et des Meres in 1913, to treat her in the same manner as he would any male subject. She also mentions famed art dealer Durand-Ruel, who had helped her—along with such masters as Degas, Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Pissarro—establish a foothold as a leading member of the Impressionists. A very rare and exceptional letter by the influential painter. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA.
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