During her early Impressionist period, Mary Cassatt frequently captured the activities of middle- and upper-class women in society—at the theater or taking tea, for example. On a Balcony, which was shown in the 1880 Impressionist exhibition, appears to depict a woman in a public setting. However, the blue rail of the balcony, visible near the top of the painting, defines the enclosed space of a private garden, and the woman’s morning dress further indicates the intimacy of her location. Cassatt signaled the modernity of her subject through the woman’s choice of reading material: she peruses a newspaper rather than a novel, demonstrating that even at home, Cassatt’s subjects are connected to the contemporary world.
Gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge in memory of her aunt, Delia Spencer Field
Reference Number
1938.18
Extended information about this artwork
“The Cover,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 32, 4 (Apr./May 1938), 58, cover, ill.
“Chicago: Two American Impressionist Works for the Art Institute,” Art News 36, 35 (May 28, 1938), 20 (ill.)
“Carnegie Institute Presents Great Survey of American Painting,” Art Digest 15, 35 (May 28, 1938), 20 (ill.)
Forbes Watson, “The Land of the Free,” Magazine of Art 33, 11 (Nov. 1940), 622 (ill.).
Margaret Breuning, Mary Cassatt, (New York, Hyperion Press, 1944) p. 20 (ill.).
Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), 69.
Frederick A. Sweet, “Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt in the Collections of the Art Institute and in Chicago Collections,” Museum Studies 2 (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1967), 33–49 (ill.).
Adelyn D. Breeskin, Mary Cassatt, A Catalogue Raisonné, (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970) cat. 94.
Judith A. Barter et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 262–65, no. 127.
Judith A. Barter et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2011), no. 21.
Fifth Impressionist Exhibition, 1880.
New York City, Durand–Ruel Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt, Nov 5–21, 1903, cat. 10, as Femme Lisant dans un Jardin.
Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Fifth Exhibition Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists, Dec 15, 1914–Jan 24, 1915, cat. 73, as Woman Reading in a Garden.
San Francisco, Department of Fine Arts, Panama–Pacific International Exposition, Jun 2–Sep 6, 1915, cat. 3006, as Woman Reading in a Garden.
Worcester Art Museum, Mass., Exhibition of Paintings by Modern French masters, lent by Durand–Ruel Galleries, New York, New York, Dec 2–30, 1917, cat. 1, as Woman Reading in a Garden.
New York City, Durand–Ruel Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt, Nov 15–Dec 4, 1920, cat. 8.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Memorial Exhibition of Works of Mary Cassatt, Apr 30–May 30, 1927, cat. 27, as Portrait of the Artist’s Sister, Miss Lydia Cassatt in a Garden, 1881.
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, A Memorial Exhibition of the Work of Mary Cassatt, Mar 15–Apr 15, 1928, cat. 7 as Girl Reading in a Garden, or cat. 44, as Woman Reading.
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Survey of American Painting, Oct 24–Dec 15, 1940, cat. 199.
Decatur Art Center, Ill., Masterpieces of European and American Art, Mar 4–25, 1945, cat. 2.
Springfield Art Association, Ill., Masterpieces of European and American Art, Apr 4–30, 1945, cat. 2.
Pasadena Art Institute, Mary Cassatt and her Parisian Friends, Oct 16–Dec 2, 1951, cat. 1.
Utica, Munson–Williams–Proctor Institute, Expatriates: Whistler, Cassatt, Sargent, Jan 4 –25, 1953, cat. 18.
Art Institute of Chicago, Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt, Jan 14–Feb 25, 1954, cat. 10; traveled to New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mar 24–May 23, 1954.
Grand Rapids Art Gallery, Mich., Cassatt, Whistler, Sargent Exhibition, Sep 15–Oct 15, 1955, cat. 5.
Palm Beach, Society of the Four Arts, John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt, Mar 7–Apr 5, 1959, cat. 39.
Art Gallery of Toronto, American Painting, 1865–1905, Jan 6–Feb 5, 1961, cat. 7; traveled to New York City, Whitney Museum of American Art, May 17–Jun 18, 1961.
South Hadley, Mass., Mount Holyoke College, Women Artists in America Today, Apr 10–30, 1962, cat. 1.
Albi, France, Musée Toulouse–Lautrec, Trésors Impressionnistes du Musée de Chicago, Jun 27–Aug 31, 1980, cat. 43.
New York City, Coe Kerr Gallery, Mary Cassatt, An American Observer, Oct 3–27, 1984, fig. 1.
Art Institute of Chicago, Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman, Oct 13, 1998–Jan 10, 1999, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Feb 14–May 9, 1999, Washington DC, National Gallery, Jun 6–Sep 6, 1999, cat. 13.
The artist; Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, by 1922; Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge, 1922; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1938.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email .
