As a product of a multicultural household, I am especially drawn to artworks that show how cultures influence each other. One day, after happening upon two works in particular, I noticed a fascinating connection between American artist Mary Cassatt and Japanese printmaker Yamakawa Shūhō.
Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)
The only American artist to exhibit her works with the French Impressionists, Mary Cassatt is widely known for The Child’s Bath and other works that frequently depict women with children. Her soft brushwork and carefully posed figures capture the intimate yet complex nature of the relationships between caretakers and children, and she renders these scenes with vibrant pastels and patterns that would thrill modern-day maximalists.
Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
The print that caught my eye, Feeding the Ducks, depicts a tender moment shared by two women, a child, and a flock of ducks. The birds float upon the water, the women and child in a blue rowboat. The woman on the right tilts her head to gaze at the child while placing a hand softly on its back in loving support. The other woman stretches out her hand, ready to cast feed out to the birds below. Cassatt’s composition highlights a gentle exchange, a harmonious moment between humans and nature that emits a maternal glow.
Importantly, Cassatt’s practice was influenced by the aesthetics and techniques of late 18th-century Japanese prints. In 1890 she attended a large-scale exhibition of such works at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She shared an appreciation for the prints’ rich palettes and quiet scenes, and their influence on her compositions can be seen in her use of unshaded colors and a flattened picture plane.
Feeding the Ducks initiated a rich conversation when I wandered into the Japanese galleries and saw another work centered around women at leisure.
Yamakawa Shūhō (1898–1944)
Relaxing in the Shade is a two-panel screen made by artist Yamakawa Shūhō. Primarily known as an illustrator, the artist was celebrated for his paintings of bijinga, or beautiful woman, which reflected an earlier, more traditional aesthetic. In Relaxing in the Shade, created in 1930, two young women recline in the sand under the shade of an umbrella. Their distinctive clothing—a pinstripe jumpsuit, heeled shoes, and bobbed haircuts—identify them as modan gaaru, or “modern girls,” who adopted Westernized fashions directly after World War I.
Among his early bijinga prints, he represented at least one modan gaaru in the print Autumn, featuring a woman who wears a modern hairstyle and whose gaze is not demure as the traditional bijinga.
Autumn, 1927
Yamakawa Shūhō; Publisher: Bijutsusha. Minneapolis Institute of Art.
But even though the fashion worn by the young women in the shade represents Western influence, the modern girl trend came to represent both the utter indulgence and newfound freedom for the young women of Japan. While popular, the style was short-lived; it nearly phased out completely by the extreme rationing of World War II.
Interestingly, the painting itself is a perfect example of Nihonga, an artwork that is made with traditional Japanese media in a traditional format. So while Shūhō shows the influence of the West on fashion—and on his muses—he did so without influence from Western artists. Cassatt, on the other hand, used Western subjects and media—drypoint, aquatint, and monotype inking—within the Japanese aesthetics she wholeheartedly embraced. In both works, there is a melding of cultures, a cross-cultural connection.
As an educator, I have come to recognize how the blending of cultures enriches our understanding of art—and of ourselves. For children, I aim for them to see these connections not just in a classroom, but in the world around them—at their homes, libraries, parks, or even museums. Each artwork serves as a stepping stone, helping them to discover and appreciate the vibrant multicultural tapestry that defines our past, present, and future.
—Lily Hahm, summer intern, Ryan Learning Center
Explore more works by Mary Cassatt in our collection.
