"Now's the time when children's noses
All become as red as roses
And the colour of their facesMakes me think of orchard places
Where the juicy apples grow,
And tomatoes in a row.
And to-day the hardened sinner
Never could be late for dinner,
But will jump up to the table
Just as soon as he is able,
Ask for three times hot roast mutton--
Oh! the shocking little glutton.Come then, find your ball and racket,
Pop into your winter jacket,
With the lovely bear-skin lining.
While the sun is brightly shining,Let us run and play together
And just love the autumn weather."
- Autumn Song by Katherine Mansfield
In 1922, eight years after poor eyesight had forced her to give up painting, Mary Cassatt gave this autumn portrait of her older sister Lydia to the Musee du Petit Palais. Perhaps in gratitude to the French nation which had awarded her the Legion d'Honneur in 1904. But Cassatt was no tragic figure. If she could not paint she would promote the work of other women artists and support women's suffrage. Of the many paintings Mary made of Lydia, I like this one especially for the cheery shawl, full of autumn's bright colors as the first few leaves begin to turn on the trees in the background. For those attuned to nature's rhythms, fall is not necessarily a sad season. The riot of color during harvest season is joyous or, as another American, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), wrote in Merry Autumn: "It's all a farce,—these tales they tell /About the breezes sighing". Image: Mary Cassatt - Portrait of C. Lydia Cassatt, 1880, Musee du Petit Palais, Paris.
5 comments:
I love Mary Cassatt's work and sometimes I don't even mind that she seemed restricted to views of middle class women and their children. They were warm, loving and colourful images.
But I wonder if a single woman couldn't get around Paris alone, to paint cityscapes and landscapes like men did. The market for her paintings must have been much more restricted than the market for her male colleagues.
Nice poem, bright picture and inspiring comments about Mary Cassat attitude in life. And of course, fall is not a sad season at all if you enjoy red, yellows and brown colors around you.
Hels, that's undoubtedly why she lived for long periods as an adult with her sister Lydia, for appearance's sake.
Alestedemadrid, I think our view of the changing seasons is influenced by our thoughts about life and death. If we see our individual life as part of a continuum of renewal, then autumn is not necessarily a sad time. Glad you liked this.
I simply love the way her shawl blends in with the autumnal landscape. Or perhaps is it the shawl that is the principal autumn signifier? There is such cheerfulness and carelessness in that poem, unlike what I've read by Mansfield so far... Perfection :)
Post a Comment