Lilla Cabot Perry O/C Self Portrait, 1892

Fine Art : Paintings

 

We are pleased to present this original oil on canvas self-portrait of one of America's premier woman artists, Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933). One of at least three known self-portraits, Perry chose to portray herself in a formal black feather hat and red coat (as if preparing to go out on a Boston winter's day) set against a sullen background, serving to accentuate her right cheek. The overall melancholy tone of the portrait would seem to be a contradiction to most of her body of work, which mainly consists of brighter, more colorful scenes. A later self-portrait (1897) echoes the color, pose and mood of this painting.

Considered ahead of her time in emulating the French Impressionist painters, Perry only started her formal art training in the late 1880's at age 36, enrolling at Cowles School in Boston and later at the Académie Julian and Académie Colarossi in Paris with Alfred Stevens. In 1889 she sought out Claude Monet, who became a friend and mentor. During the summers of ten years she was a neighbor to Monet in the Normandy village of Giverny, coming to know both him and Camille Pissarro well.

Married to writer/teacher Thomas Sargeant Perry in 1874, the couple had three daughters. Lilla died in 1933 in New Hampshire, having spent her later years painting and promoting French and American Impressionism.

Her works are included in many museum collections, including the Musée du Louvre, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the latter having recently displayed this particular painting.

Size of image: 27.5" Height x 19.5" Width. Size of frame: 31.5" Height x 23.5" Width.

Provenance available upon request.

Item ID: PS02-13-08-06