Portrait of Mrs. Cyrus J. Lawrence with her Grandson R. Lawrence Oakley

c. 1898

Emily Lawrence is shown interrupting her knitting to grasp her grandson’s hand as he leans over the back of her chair. The portrait was commissioned by Emily’s husband, the collector Cyrus L. Lawrence, while Cassatt was visiting her family and friends in the United States after nearly twenty years abroad. The naturalness and informality of the sitters’ poses suggest their mutual affection, demonstrating the artist’s skill in capturing both a likeness and a mood.

Medium	pastel on tan paper
Dimensions	28 x 23 in. (71.1 x 58.4 cm) Frame: 39 3/16 x 32 11/16 x 2 1/2 in. (99.5 x 83 x 6.4 cm)
Object Number	1973.36
Acquisition	Gift of Mrs. R. Lawrence Oakley, 1973
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Mary Cassatt, Portrait of Mrs. Cyrus J. Lawrence with her Grandson R. Lawrence Oakley, c. 1898, pastel on tan paper. Clark Art Institute, gift of Mrs R Lawrence Oakley, 1973.36

Select Bibliography

Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt. Library of American Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987. Conrads, Margaret C. American Paintings and Sculpture at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1990. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. 1955-1980: A Twenty-Five Year Report. Clark Art Institute. 1980. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Nancy Mowll Mathews.. Mary Cassatt: A Life.. New York: Villard Books.. 1994.. Nancy Mowll Mathews.. Mary Cassatt: A Life (paperback edition).. New Haven: Yale University Press,. [1998].. Barter, Judith A., et al. Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Art Institute of Chicago in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998. Breeskin, Adelyn D. Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970. Anonymous. "La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées in 1975." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 87, no. 1286 (supplement, March 1976).

Provenance

To Cyrus J. Lawrence by 1899; to R. Lawrence Oakley by descent; to Mrs. R. Lawrence Oakley (his widow), Greenwich, Connecticut; gift to Sterling and Francince Clark Art Institute, February 14, 1973.