Eileen Cham for ARTH312 Final Paper

Professor Paul Galvez

Spring 2014

The Reassessment of an Accessory

The Fans of Mary Cassatt in the 4 th and 5 th Impressionist Exhibitions

Introduction

The folding fan was introduced to Europe in the 17th century, and have until the early 20th century
permeated the fashion and dress culture of Europe. It is also often featured in the paintings of the
19th century as part of the dress and costume of female figures, as well as part of the dcor of an
interior.
Mary Cassatt, one of the few female Impressionists, also features fans in her painting, especially
during the late 1870s, when she began to participate in the Impressionist exhibitions. In this paper,
I will discuss how Cassatt challenges the notion of the fan as a feminine and frivolous accessory
by imbuing renewed significance and association into fan representations. By doing so, Cassatt is
asserting her identity and professionalism in art and painting, which are historically maledominated pursuits.
I will first establish that fans are traditionally portrayed as feminine and frivolous accessories in
art and literature. Then, I will look specifically into the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition, in which
Cassatt exhibited fan representations that go against the convention of the Exhibition. After that I
will move on to her standout contribution at the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition, Portrait of
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Madame J, and discuss how she improved her treatment of fan representations based on the events
of the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition. Cassatt uses the fan form not as a feminine accessory for
flirtation and fashion; rather, she subverts that tradition and uses the fan form to inaugurate herself
as an artist, connoisseur, and a modern woman.

Fans: the Far East, fashion and femininity

To mid-19th century France, the fans represented the Far East, especially the newly trading Japan.
In the living rooms of France, fan forms graced the wall as a sign of the owners cosmopolitanism
and trendiness. Despite being a mark of worldly sophistication, the fan form has feminine, even
frivolous associations. This is parodied in 1876 by Monet with a depiction of his wife, Camille, in
Japanese costume before a composed background of Japanese-themed hand fans. (Fig. 1)
Contemporary writers have written on the subject of fans seriously, especially in relation to
femininity and fashion. Octave Uzanne published a book entitled LEventail (The Fan) which
was part of a series of studies he wrote on feminine attire and attributes.1 In the writings of Enault
Louis, one even gets the sense that the fan is a necessity, without which a womans outfit is
incomplete: The fan is the most important piece in a feminine arsenal Everywhere you find a
woman, youre just about sure to find a fan.2 In the fashion paintings of the second half of 19th
century, fans feature prominently and are meant to complement the outfit of the figures. Anne
Higonnet, in her book on Berthe Morisots images of women, writes that Accessories carried so

1
2

Uzanne, Octave. Leventail. Paris, 1881. P 11.

Enault, Louis. LEventail. La Grande Dame, 2, no. 22 . Paris,1894. P. 336

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much meaning precisely because they had no function than to recapitulate the message of the
ensemble.3
Higonnet also notes that the exclusive use of fans by women is related to their limited social
position in the public sphere: Taught to be seen not heard in public, trained to move little and
gesture less, women used fans as a kind of language. Entire codes were devised by which women
could mutely and secretly express themselves with this interpreter of your hidden feelings.4
One such example is the set of codes outlined in a pamphlet published by the House of Dulleveroy,
the French fan manufacturing and design house. (See Fig. 2)5 Higonnet aptly notes that the extent
of the fans language, however, was almost entirely limited to amorous enterprises and more
precisely to rituals of seduction. She writes, The nineteenth century assigned to women a feminine
language whose only meanings were those of erotic exchange with men, and inadequate even for
that purpose.6
In the 19th century, the theatre is one of the only few public places socially proper for a woman to
visit. Theater-going is thus an elaborate affair of best dresses, accessories, and display of manners.
Charles Baudelaire writes of the picturesque quality of these theatre-going women:
Sometimes in the diffused radiance of opera or theater, young girls of the best society,
their shoulders, eyes, and jewels catching the light, resemble gorgeous portraits as they sit

Higgonet, Anne. Berthe Morisots Images of Women. Harvard University Press, 1992. P. 150
Higgonet, Anne. Ibid. P. 129.
5
From the House of Duvelleroy website: During the XIXth century, DUVELLEROY published the language of the
fan, a small booklet explaining the coded gestures used by women since centuries to say I love you, follow me
or you are cruel, with a simple manipulation of their fan.
http://www.eventail-duvelleroy.fr/en/content/19-the-language-of-the-fan
6
Higgonet, Anne. Ibid. P. 129.
3
4

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in their boxes, which serve as picture-frames. [] Fans on teeth, with fixed or wandering
eye, they are theatrical or solemn like the play or the opera they pretend to be looking at.7
This pictorial potential of the woman in a loge, which Baudelaire writes about, did not escape the
Impressionists, as many of them, such as Renoir and Degas painted theatre-going women
extensively. Folding fans inevitably become part of the spectacle depicted in these impressionist
paintings, many of which made their way into the Impressionist Exhibitions.

The Fourth Impressionist Exhibition, 1879

The fourth impressionist exhibition coincided with what Ronald Pickvance calls the peak of
material suffering of the Impressionists.8 It was also a time of ideological crisis for the
Impressionists, as they tried to define their beliefs and goals. 9 Degas promoted the idea for a
Room with Fans among his closest exhibiting friends; that each of the exhibiting artists should
submit a number of fan-shaped paintings to the show.10 Perhaps Degas saw this as an opportunity
to unite the exhibiting artists, or maybe he believed that fan-shaped paintings would open up more
sales possibilities for the exhibition. It is unclear in my research on the exhibition catalogues
whether such a room did materialize; nevertheless, there were indeed fan-shaped paintings, as
wished for by Degas, in the exhibition.11 Degas contributed five fan-shaped paintings, while
7

Baudelaire, Charles. In Constantin Guys: Femmes Parisiennes, trans. Louise Vares. New York, 1945. N.P.
Pickvance, Ronald. Contemporary Popularity and Posthumous Neglect. In The New Painting: Impressionism
1874-1886. Geneva, 1986. P. 244.
9
Pickvance, Ronald. Ibid. P. 244.
10
Degas to Bracquemond, undated. See Marcel Guerin, Lettres de Degas (Paris, 1945) 44-45. Letter XVII. There is
one room with fans, do you understand Mme Bracquemond? Up to now, Pisarro, Mlle Morisot and I are depositing
things there. You and your wife should contribute too.
11
Berson, Ruth. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Documentation Volume II. Exhibited Works. Fine
Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1996. P. 104.
8

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Camille Pisarro sent eleven. The fan-shaped watercolors expected from Morisot never arrived, nor
did any of her works, as she was recovering from her pregnancy. 12 (Pickvance suggests that there
might be more behind the absence of Morisot in the exhibition:
What happened to the fans by Berthe Morisot? Her name is not in the catalogue and her
absence from the walls of the exhibition was noticed by several critics. Did she suddenly
decide to withdraw her work fans only, presumably at the last moment?13)
Cassatt sent in five paintings for the fan theme; however, instead of fan-shaped compositions, she
sent in regular figure paintings depicting women holding fans. (Figs. 3-7)
Of this strange decision by Cassatt, George Shackleford writes in essay Pas de deux: Mary
Cassatt and Edgar Degas that Cassatts showing of her fans at one remove is possibly in
emulation of two paintings that Morisot showed in the second and third Impressionist exhibitions
in 1876 and 1877, At the Ball (fig. 8) and Head of a Young Woman (Fig. 9).14 If so, is Cassatts
decision to show her unconventional, but Morisot-inspired, fan-themed paintings a display of
solidarity and homage to Morisot, who is absent from the exhibition?
At first glance, Cassatts fan-themed entries strengthens the notion that fans are accessories of
femininity and male spectatorship, and are very much aligned with Baudelaires theatre-box
portraits. Many Impressionists have also done such theatre-box portraits such as Renoir (Fig.
10). However, Cassatts fans are what Higonnet would call impenetrable we can only read the
brushwork on it, and not make out much from what is depicted. In her discussion of Morisots

12

Shackelford, George T.M. Pas de deux: Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. In Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. Art
Institute of Chicago, 1998. P. 116
13
Pickvance, Ronald. Ibid. P. 249
14
Shackelford, George T.M. Ibid. P. 116

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1874 painting, Portrait of Marie Hubbard (Fig. 11) which also has an impenetrable fan,
Higonnet draws attention to the more realistically painted face, which stands in contrast with the
indecipherable fan and vaporous body. Higonnet writes: Morisot has usurped the bodys eroticism
with her focus on a womans psychological presence [] Our attention has been diverted to the
much more realistically painted face on the right.15
Cassatts fan entries to the fourth Impressionist Exhibition are very much so too; though the fans
take up much of the pictorial space, they are indecipherable with their loose brushstrokes. In
contrast, the faces of the figures are rendered more realistically (Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 6), and
gestures are communicated with great emphasis (Fig. 5 and Fig. 7). The interiority and psychology
of the women depicted enjoys greater attention and is more interesting than the fans. In Corner of
a Loge, the women are intensely engaged with a scene off the frame, one of them gazing intently
with a pair of binoculars. Their gestures and body language suggest a strong intellectual
preoccupation with the scene on stage; the fans shape echoes this directional attention of the
women. Here the fan lacks the usual accessorizing or social-mediating role, and is in Higonnets
terms opaque; rather, it the draws attention to the connoisseurship and intellectual intensity of
the women.
Woman in a Loge shows an almost closed fan; but the beauty and dress of the sitter is striking.
In his discussion of this painting, Charles Harrison emphasizes on the self-possession of the
figure16. The woman is posed in the typical loge painting position, yet she is captivated by
something off-screen, in complete disregard of the spectator of the painting. Her half-laugh tells
us that she is enjoying herself. Harrison writes that Cassatt is introducing a new way to represent
15

Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.161

Harrison, Charles. Morisot and Cassatt: A Womans Painting in Painting the Difference: Sex and Spectator in
Modern Art. University of Chicago Press, 2005. P. 139
16

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painted women: Cassatts women do not often conform to conventional canons of feminine
attractiveness to men. But even when they do, as in Woman in a Loge, the attractiveness in
question is not represented as for men.
Cassatts submissions were displayed in a room of their own, just adjacent to a gallery that
displayed Degass submissions. 17 Degas was Cassatts mentor; she joined the fourth Impressionist
exhibition on his invitation. Meanwhile, Degass involvement in the organization of the fourth
exhibition was absolute:
In many ways, it was his show, with the inclusion of his pupils Cassatt, Forain, and
Zandomeneghi, [] Many facets of his close concern are reflected in his notebook jottings
lists of participants, drafts for the poster, plans of the rooms at 28 avenue de lOpera, and
lists of Cassatts intended contribution and of his own.18
Shackelford, in his essay Pas de deux: Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, observes that since the
exhibition, Cassatt was linked with Degas in the public imagination and was considered a follower
of the older artist.19 A contemporary Irish writer, George Moore, wrote: Cassatts art was derived
from Degas as Madame Morisots art was derived from Manet.20 Shackelford calls this pairing
of female to male artists a condescending clich which prevents viewers from seeing Cassatt
as an artist of her own right.21

17

Shackelford, George T.M. Ibid. P. 110

Pickvance, Ronald. Ibid. P. 257
19
Shackelford, George T.M. Ibid. P. 116
20
Moore, George. Reminiscences of the Impressionist Painters. Dublin, 1906. P. 36.
21
Shackelford, George T.M. Ibid. P. 116
18

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The Fifth Impressionist Exhibition, 1880

A year later in the fifth exhibition, Cassat submitted sixteen paintings. Only two of them carry the
motif of the fan, and in much subdued form: as a background ornament in Portrait of Madame J
(Fig. 12) and Woman at the Theatre.22
In Portrait of Madame J, the fan depicted is a direct quotation of an actual fan-shaped painting
by Degas, Fan Mount: Ballet Girls (Fig. 13). Cassatt received this fan from Degas himself;23 the
fan was also part of the fourth Impressionist Exhibition. The fan would also make another
appearance in a photograph of Cassatt by Theodate Pope,24 showing us that Cassatt treasures this
gift personally.
Though the fan is relegated to the background, and is only depicted partially, it is present; Phillippe
Burty, Cassatts friend and art critic, while praising the portrait, found the background too
prominent.25 Barter observes that the backgrounds in Cassatts compositions are a force of their
own:
Cassatt understood full well the critical role background plays in establishing
compositional structure and mood, and would, throughout her career, devise compositions
that balance a centrally important figure against an equally forceful surround.26

Berson, Ruth. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Documentation Volume II. Exhibited Works. Fine
Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1996. P. 145.
23
Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt: Themes, Sources and the Modern Woman. In Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman.
Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. P. 59
24
Barter, Judith A. Introduction In Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. P. 14.
25
Burty, Phillippe. Exposition des oeuvres des artistes independants, in Republic francaise, Apr 10, P. 2
26
Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt: Themes, Sources and the Modern Woman. In Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman.
Art Institute of Chicago, 1998 P. 60.
22

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Degass Ballet Girls is part of the forceful surround of Cassatts Madame J. This direct
quotation of an actual Degas fan is reminiscent of Morisots Two Sisters on a Couch (Fig. 14)
from 1869, before the Impressionist exhibitions. Morisot quoted Degass Spanish Dancers and
Musicians (Fig. 15) which he gifted to her in 1868.27 Anne Higonnet writes extensively on this
painting, stating that the double fans in the painting served as contrasts to each other: one a
feminine fan that represents domesticity, and the other a masculine fan that represents Morisots
professional pursuit of painting.28 Morisot was also confirming her artistic allegiance to Degas, at
once paying him the tribute of direct quotation (only he received this compliment until much later
in her career) and proudly demonstrating his esteem for her.29
It remains a guess, at least in the scope of my paper, whether or not if Cassatt was directly inspired
by Morisot for Portrait of Madame J. Nevertheless, drawing on the parallels between Portrait
of Madame J and Two Sisters on a Couch, it is apt to say that the Degas fans in both paintings
are masculine fans, representing professional pursuits. They are placed beyond the eye level of the
sitters, emphasizing the intellectual activity of the women. Portrait of Madame J lack the
counterpoint of a feminine fan that Two Sisters on a Couch has, which is the fan between the
hands of the two sisters,30 and is fully committed to the presentation of the fan form as a symbol
for artistic activity and not a social or fashion accessory.
Nevertheless, there is still dominating Degas influence over these statements by Morisot and
Cassatt.

Degass fans hovers high over the women, and are transparent (as opposed to

impenetrable) and recognizable. While Two Sisters on a Couch shows Degass fan in full and

27

Barter, Judith A. Ibid. P. 59

Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.145
29
Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.144
30
Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.145
28

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almost in the middle of the painting, Portrait of Madame J shows Degas fan only partially, as if
Cassatt is suspicious towards the associations the fan might invoke. That Morisot and Cassatts
own Degas fans itself raises another issue; Anne Higonnet comments on this: Degas had given it
to her with a double meaning, acknowledging her works with one of his, but also offering her a
conventionally flirtatious fan.31 Degass gesture of giving a fan to his female friends is grounded
on the notion of fans being a social feminine accessory. Morisot and Cassatts representations of
fans that they receive from Degas are inevitably gesturing towards this flirtatious roles of the fan
form, despite their efforts to imbue new, progressive meaning to fan representations.
If anything, this shows us that Morisot and Cassatt are tackling a subject difficult to them as women
painters. Writing specifically on Morisots Two Sisters on a Couch Anne Higonnet points
towards Morisots innovation on the existing traditions: Whereas realist painters like Stevens
or Tissot used signs to provide definitive answers about women, Morisot used them to ask
questions. 32 I find that Cassatts Portrait of Madame J not only tries the fan as an established
mark of femininity, like Morisot did; she also provides a clearer, less ambiguous opinion towards
the symbol. The fan according to Cassatt in the fifth impressionist exhibition is no longer a
feminine one; it communicates power, connoisseurship and her position in Degass artistic circle.
Judith Barter echoes this sentiment in her essay:
Cassatt and Morisot [insert fans and fan-shaped paintings into the backgrounds of their
works] for reasons that extend beyond the decorative. Unlike Monets portrait of his wife,
which emphasizes the material trappings of chic, neither Cassatt nor Morisot allowed such
details to define femininity. If anything, their inclusion of Degas fans in their portraits

31
32

Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.145

Higonnet, Anne. Ibid. P.145

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places contemporary art and their own professionalism as contemporary artists at the heart
of these images.33

Conclusion

Cassatt made her Impressionist debut in the fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879, contributing
to the fan-painting theme in an unconventional flourish instead of submitting fan-shaped
paintings, as intended by Degas and followed by Pissaro, Cassatt exhibited representations of fans
in loge theatre box paintings. Her fan-wielding women, however, are not the usual subjects of
male spectatorship, as per convention in French theaters of the 19th century. Cassatts fan-wielding
women are striking in their psychological and intellectual depth, which she draws attention to,
using two methods: (1) contrasting loose fan detailing to the fine rendering of the figures
expression and (2) emphasizing gestural and body language of the figure with the fan placement.
In the fifth Impressionist exhibition, Cassatt showed a portrait which carried a direct quotation of
a Degas fan from the previous exhibition. Drawing a comparison with a portrait by Morisot from
a decade ago, we can see that Cassatt is bolder in her assertion of a masculine fan compared
to both Morisot and her previous self in the fourth exhibition. Her fan is no longer an accessory to
be wielded in a theatre box; rather, it is a sign for connoisseurship, intellectual and artistic activity,
as well as allegiance with the Impressionist.

33

Barter, Judith A. Ibid. P. 60.

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Bibliography
Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. Art Institute of Chicago, 1998
Berson, Ruth. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Documentation Volume II. Exhibited
Works. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1996.
Harrison, Charles. Painting the Difference: Sex and Spectator in Modern Art. University of Chicago
Press, 2005.
Higgonet, Anne. Berthe Morisots Images of Women. Harvard University Press, 1992.
National Gallery of Art, Washington & The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The New Painting:
Impressionism 1874-1886. Geneva, 1986.

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Images

Fig. 1 La Japonaise, Claude Monet. 1876

Fig. 2 Language of Fans, House of Duvelleroy

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Fig. 3 Portrait of a Lady with a Fan, Mary Cassatt. 1879

Fig. 4 Woman in a Loge, Mary Cassatt. 1879

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Fig. 5 At the Theatre, Mary Cassatt. 1879

Fig. 6 At the Theatre, Mary Cassatt. 1879

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Fig. 8 A Corner of the Loge, Mary Cassatt. 1879

Fig. 9 At the Ball, Berthe Morisot. 1875

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Fig. 10 Head of a Young Woman, Berthe Morisot. 1876

Fig. 11 La Loge, Auguste Renoir. 1874

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Fig. 11 Portrait of Marie Hubbard, Berthe Morisot. 1874

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Fig. 12 Portrait of Madame J, Mary Cassatt. 1880

Fig. 13 Fan Mount: Ballet Girls, Edgar Degas. 1879

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Fig

Fig. 14 Two Sisters on a couch, Berthe Morisot. 1869

Fig. 15 Spanish Dancers and Musicians, Edgar Degas. 1869

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