{"data":{"id":26650,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/26650","is_boosted":false,"title":"On a Balcony","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBAAFAPQAAE1IO1FYTFRdUWJbTWNdTmRcUFxoYGJpYGdrZm53bHh7boF8a4V\/cnuBgYuNg4KJioaPjJ2dkpialZmclwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAEAAUAAAURYEEMwMIohjMhwvFASdBIUQgAOw==","width":9148,"height":11911,"alt_text":"A work made of oil on canvas."},"main_reference_number":"1938.18","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1878,"date_end":1879,"date_display":"1878\u201379","date_qualifier_title":"c.","date_qualifier_id":60,"artist_display":"Mary Cassatt (American, 1844\u20131926)","place_of_origin":"France","description":"<p>Shown at the 1880 Impressionist exhibition, <em>On a Balcony<\/em> depicts a woman in a private garden surrounded by flowers rendered in energetic brushstrokes of red, blue, yellow, and pink. Mary Cassatt focused on the activities of middle- and upper-class women in society\u2014from public outings like the theater to domestic settings such as this one. Here, the blue rail of the balcony, visible near the top of the painting, defines the enclosed space of a garden, and the sitter\u2019s morning dress further indicates the intimacy of the location. Cassatt signaled the modernity of her subject through the woman\u2019s choice of reading material: she peruses a newspaper rather than a novel, demonstrating that even at home, Cassatt\u2019s subjects are connected to the contemporary world.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Shown at the 1880 Impressionist exhibition, 'On a Balcony' depicts a woman in a private garden surrounded by flowers rendered in energetic brushstrokes of red, blue, yellow, and pink. Cassatt signaled the modernity of her subject through the woman\u2019s choice of reading material: she peruses a newspaper rather than a novel, demonstrating that even at home, Cassatt\u2019s subjects are connected to the contemporary world.","dimensions":"85.2 \u00d7 65.5 cm (33 9\/16 \u00d7 25 13\/16 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":65,"height":85,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Signed recto, bottom-left, on grass, in red paint: \"Mary Cassatt.\".","credit_line":"Gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge in memory of her aunt, Delia Spencer Field","catalogue_display":"<p>Breeskin 94<\/p>","publication_history":"\u201cThe Cover,\u201d Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 32, 4 (Apr.\/May 1938), 58, cover, ill.\n\n\u201cChicago: Two American Impressionist Works for the Art Institute,\u201d Art News 36, 35 (May 28, 1938), 20 (ill.)\n\n\u201cCarnegie Institute Presents Great Survey of American Painting,\u201d Art Digest 15, 35 (May 28, 1938), 20 (ill.)\n\nForbes Watson, \u201cThe Land of the Free,\u201d Magazine of Art 33, 11 (Nov. 1940), 622 (ill.).\n\nMargaret Breuning, Mary Cassatt, (New York, Hyperion Press, 1944) p. 20 (ill.).\n\nBulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), 69.\n\nFrederick A. Sweet, \"Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt in the Collection of The Art Institute,\" <em>Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies<\/em> 2 (1967): 33\u201349, fig. 2 (ill.), as <em>Woman Reading in a Garden<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4108780\">https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4108780<\/a>.\n\nAdelyn D. Breeskin, Mary Cassatt, A Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9, (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970) cat. 94.\n\nJudith 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\u201365, no. 127.\n\nJudith A. Barter, et al., <em>The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> (Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), cat. 21.\n\nJennifer A. Thompson, et al., <em>Mary Cassatt at Work<\/em>, exh. cat. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2024), 194\u201395, 283, cat. 114 (ill.).","exhibition_history":"<em>Fifth Impressionist Exhibition<\/em>, 1880.\n\nNew York, Durand\u2013Ruel Galleries, <em>Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Nov. 5\u201321, 1903, cat. 10, as <em>Femme Lisant dans un Jardin<\/em>.\n\nWashington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, <em>Fifth Exhibition Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists<\/em>, Dec. 15, 1914\u2013Jan. 24, 1915, cat. 73, as <em>Woman Reading in a Garden<\/em>.\n\nSan Francisco, Department of Fine Arts, <em>Panama\u2013Pacific International Exposition<\/em>, June 2\u2013Sept. 6, 1915, cat. 3006, as <em>Woman Reading in a Garden<\/em>.\n\nMA, Worcester Art Museum, <em>Exhibition of Paintings by Modern French Masters, lent by Durand\u2013Ruel Galleries, New York, New York<\/em>, Dec. 2\u201330, 1917, cat. 1, as <em>Woman Reading in a Garden<\/em>.\n\nNew York, Durand\u2013Ruel Galleries, <em>Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Nov. 15\u2013Dec. 4, 1920, cat. 8.\n\nArt Gallery of Toronto, <em>Exhibition of Paintings by Contemporary American Artists<\/em>, Jan. 8\u2013Feb. 6, 1921, cat. 17, as <em>Femme Lisant dans un Jardin<\/em>, 1880.\n\nPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, <em>Memorial Exhibition of Works of Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Apr. 30\u2013May 30, 1927, cat. 27, as <em>Portrait of the Artist\u2019s Sister, Miss Lydia Cassatt in a Garden<\/em>, 1881.\n\nPittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, <em>A Memorial Exhibition of the Work of Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Mar. 15\u2013Apr. 15, 1928, cat. 7 as <em>Girl Reading in a Garden<\/em>, or cat. 44, as <em>Woman Reading<\/em>.\n\nPittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, <em>Survey of American Painting<\/em>, Oct. 24\u2013Dec. 15, 1940, cat. 199.\n\nDecatur Art Center, IL, <em>Masterpieces of European and American Art<\/em>, Mar. 4\u201325, 1945, cat. 2.\n\nSpringfield Art Association, IL, <em>Masterpieces of European and American Art<\/em>, Apr. 4\u201330, 1945, cat. 2.\n\nPasadena Art Institute, <em>Mary Cassatt and her Parisian Friends<\/em>, Oct. 16\u2013Dec. 2, 1951, cat. 1. \n\nUtica, Munson\u2013Williams\u2013Proctor Institute, <em>Expatriates: Whistler, Cassatt, Sargent<\/em>, Jan. 4 \u201325, 1953, cat. 18.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, <em>Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Jan. 14\u2013Feb. 25, 1954, cat. 10, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/exhibitions\/3816\/sargent-whistler-and-mary-cassatt\"><em>Woman Reading in a Garden<\/em><\/a>, 1880; New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mar. 24\u2013May 23, 1954. \n\nGrand Rapids Art Gallery, MI, <em>Cassatt, Whistler, Sargent Exhibition<\/em>, Sept. 15\u2013Oct. 15, 1955, cat. 5.\n\nPalm Beach, Society of the Four Arts, <em>John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt<\/em>, Mar. 7\u2013Apr. 5, 1959, cat. 39.\n\nArt Gallery of Toronto, <em>American Painting, 1865\u20131905<\/em>, Jan. 6\u2013Feb. 5, 1961, cat. 7; Winnipeg Art Gallery Association, Feb. 17\u2013Mar. 12, 1961; Vancouver Art Gallery, Mar. 29\u2013Apr. 23, 1961; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, May 17\u2013June 18, 1961.\n\nSouth Hadley, MA, Mount Holyoke College, <em>Women Artists in America Today<\/em>, Apr. 10\u201330, 1962, cat. 1.\n\nAlbi, France, Mus\u00e9e Toulouse\u2013Lautrec, <em>Tr\u00e9sors Impressionnistes du Mus\u00e9e de Chicago<\/em>, June 27\u2013Aug. 31, 1980, cat. 43.\n\nNew York, Coe Kerr Gallery, <em>Mary Cassatt, An American Observer<\/em>, Oct. 3\u201327, 1984.\n\nNagaoka, Japan, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, <em>Shikago Bijutsukan Ten: Kindai Kaiga no 100\u2013nen<\/em> [Masterworks of Modern Art from the Art Institute of Chicago], Apr. 20\u2013May 29, 1994, cat.; Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, June 10\u2013July 24, 1994; Yokohama Museum of Art, Aug. 6\u2013Sept. 25, 1994.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, <em>Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman<\/em>, Oct. 13, 1998\u2013Jan. 10, 1999, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Feb. 14\u2013May 9, 1999, Washington DC, National Gallery, June 6\u2013Sept. 6, 1999, cat. 13.\n\nToronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, <em>Cassatt-McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds<\/em>, June 3\u2013Sept. 4, 2023.\n\nPhiladelphia Museum of Art, <em>Mary Cassatt at Work<\/em>, May 18\u2013Sept. 8, 2024, cat. 114; San Francisco, Legion of Honor, Oct. 5, 2024\u2013Jan. 26, 2025.","provenance_text":"The artist; with Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, by 1903 [New York 1903, cat. 10; letter from Charles Durand-Ruel to Mary Carton, Dec. 14, 1978; copies in curatorial object file; inscription on stretcher: D.R. N.Y 2707]; sold to Mrs. Delia Spencer Field (1853\u20131937; also Mrs. Arthur John Caton, Mrs. Marshall Field), Washington, DC, 1922 [notation in Catherine Beveridge\u2019s catalogue according to letter from Albert J. Beveridge, III, Jan. 30, 1979; <em>Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> 1938, 58; handwritten note on incoming permanent receipt R6498, Jan. 14, 1938; copies in curatorial object file]; by descent to her niece, Catherine Eddy Beveridge (also Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge), Washington, DC [letter from Robert B. Harshe to Mrs. Beveridge, Dec. 10, 1937; copy in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1938.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":21,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":149,"l":44,"s":4,"percentage":0.0016730629739434989,"population":1823},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 182","gallery_id":23997,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of the Americas","department_id":"PC-3","artist_id":33890,"artist_title":"Mary Cassatt","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[33890],"artist_titles":["Mary Cassatt"],"category_ids":["PC-825","PC-3"],"category_titles":["Women artists","Arts of the Americas"],"term_titles":["painting","portraits","oil paint (paint)","Impressionism","organic material","american arts","everyday life (genre)","leisure","women","Modernism"],"style_id":"TM-7543","style_title":"Impressionism","alt_style_ids":["TM-5981"],"style_ids":["TM-7543","TM-5981"],"style_titles":["Impressionism","Modernism"],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-2191"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-2191"],"classification_titles":["painting","american arts"],"subject_id":"TM-8658","alt_subject_ids":["TM-10096","TM-10094","TM-8735"],"subject_ids":["TM-8658","TM-10096","TM-10094","TM-8735"],"subject_titles":["portraits","everyday life (genre)","leisure","women"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-2601"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-2601"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","organic material"],"technique_id":null,"alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":[],"technique_titles":[],"theme_titles":["Women artists"],"image_id":"f0150d21-33ab-f6ea-0d4d-32d459f091fe","alt_image_ids":["c90c82f5-401d-2005-0fc1-498e09d52fcd"],"document_ids":["c071fb03-11c8-5cf8-b798-be57a21535f7"],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":["c071fb03-11c8-5cf8-b798-be57a21535f7"],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1938.18"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["On a Balcony"],"weight":12344,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-09-03T09:08:06-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-03T12:11:46-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-06T05:52:09-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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