Lilla Cabot Perry

(1848-1933)

Easter Morning 46 1/4 x 32 1/2 in. (117.5 x 81.9 cm.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Estate of the artist.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, consigned from the above, 1981.
[With] Santa Fe East Gallery, transferred from and sold on behalf of the above, 1983.
Shirley Fox Garvey (1924-2018), Fort Worth.
Estate of the above.
Sale, Heritage Auctions, Dallas, May 3, 2019, lot 68161.
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.

Exhibited
Rochester, New York, The Memorial Art Gallery, A Collection of Paintings, Miniatures, and Sculptures from the Guild of Boston Artists, October 30-November 28, 1915, n.p., nos. 70, 29, and elsewhere.
Saint Louis, City Art Museum, An Exhibition of Paintings, Miniatures and Sculpture by Members of The Guild of Boston Artists, May 7-n.d., 1916, p. 6, no. 29.
New York, Grand Central Palace, First Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, April 10-May 6, 1917, n.p, no. 57. (as An Easter Morning)
The Guild of Boston Artists, Exhibition of Paintings by Lilla Cabot Perry, November 26-December 8, 1917.
Copley Society of Boston, Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Miniatures, and Small Sculpture, n.d. (as An Easter Chick)
Santa Fe East Gallery, Lilla Cabot Perry: Days to Remember, April 16-May 31, 1983, n.p., illustrated.
Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, extended loan for public exhibition, 2020-21.

Literature
"Boston Art Works Seen in Worcester - More Than 60 Pieces Make Up 'Traveling Exhibit.' Display to Be Sent to Buffalo and Western Cities in Four Weeks," Boston Evening Globe, October 7, 1915, vol. LXXXVIII, no. 99, p. 16.
G.M. Hamblin, "Exhibit of Work by Boston Guild is Now on View, Paintings, Sculptures and Miniatures are Shown. Work Will Appeal to Tastes of Many, Baby's First Step Depicted by Marie Danforth Page," The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, July 2, 1916, no. 39, p. 6.
"Spirit of Poetry in Her Art, Exhibition of Paintings by Mrs. Lilla Cabot Perry Shows Unusual Versatility and Delicate Artistic Sentiment," The Boston Sunday Globe, December 2, 1917, vol. XCII, no. 154, p. 14.
The New Mexican, Santa Fe, April 10, 1983, p. A-17, illustrated.
M.L. Soderman-Olson, "Reconstructing Lilla Cabot Perry--(1889-1933): A Study in Class and Gender," Ph.D. dissertation, The Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2000, p. XXXI, fig. 157, illustrated.

Lilla Cabot Perry's Easter Morning painted in 1915 is an exceptional Impressionist portrait produced at the height of Perry's artistic career and beautifully demonstrates her unparalleled approach to blending eastern and western aesthetics. One of the most famous American women working in the Impressionist style at the turn of the 20th century, Perry was born the eldest of eight children to Dr. Samuel Cabot III (1815-1885) and Hannah Lowell (née Jackson) Cabot (1820-1879) on January 13, 1848. Receiving her education among prominent circles of Boston society, she eventually married Thomas Sargeant Perry (1845-1928), a Harvard alumnus scholar and linguist, on April 9, 1874. The Perry family travelled widely across Europe, allowing her to study and advance her artistic practice in Paris, Munich, Italy, England, and Spain. She first encountered the Impressionist style in 1889 when she came across the work of Claude Monet (1840-1926). Perry went on to befriend the famous painter and rented a summer home in Giverny near his for many years. Monet often gave Perry artistic advice and guidance on her technique and she in turn collected his works, promoting them among Boston society upon her return to the United States.

In 1897, Perry's husband received a position as an English professor at the Keio Gijuku University in Tokyo and the family moved to Japan where they would reside for the next three years. This chapter in Perry's artistic career was pivotal in her stylistic development, providing her with firsthand exposure to Japanese prints and textiles that influenced the French Impressionists. Soon after the family's arrival, she was introduced to Okakura Kakuzō (1863-1913), scholar, art critic, and co-founder of the Imperial Art School who was famous for promoting the appreciation of traditional Japanese forms and customs. With his assistance, Perry was able to exhibit her work in Tokyo in October of 1898 and later became an honorary member of the Nippon Bijutsu-In Art Association. Perry's participation and education in the Asian art world influenced her work considerably and lead to her development of a unique style that carefully blended artistic practices and aesthetics discernibly found in both eastern and western art traditions. The compositional arrangements, subject matter, and clean lines found in her work produced after her years in Japan reveal the impression classical Japanese artistic principals had on Perry, especially those of Japanese prints and paintings of the Ukiyo-e School.

The Perry family left Japan by 1901 and, after an interlude of several years spent between Boston and Paris, as well as electing numerous tours through Europe, they set sail for their permanent return to America in November of 1909. After settling in Boston, Perry began taking on a greater number of portrait commissions to financially support the family. In many of her portraits produced during this period, including the present work painted in 1915, Perry applies her Impressionistic hand to the quintessentially American family portrait and exhibits her American, French, and Japanese influences. In Easter Morning, Perry depicts a young mother sitting centered in the composition wearing a striking blue kimono with red and gold embellishments. On her lap sits her baby and standing next to her holding a small duckling in her hands is her young daughter wearing a large light blue bow in her hair and a flowing, youthful white dress. While the mother and baby look downward with loving curiosity at the small duckling, the young girl gazes outward to engage the viewer. While her subjects and palette are characteristically western in appearance, the clean lines of her composition and the objects, particularly the textiles that populate the scene, are inspired by Japanese aesthetics. The kimono worn by the mother and the gold silk screen with floral designs behind them are objects that signal the continued inspiration she found in Japanese customs and designs and are ones she utilizes in her other works from this period, such as in The Gold Screen (private collection) painted in 1914 and The Blue Kimono (private collection) also painted in 1915.