The Black Hat

"The Black Hat," executed by American artist Mary Cassatt in 1890, is a masterful drawing characterized by her fluent use of pastel on tan wove paper. This specific medium was central to Cassatt's mature Impressionist practice, allowing her to achieve the immediate, vibrant color effects traditionally associated with painting while simultaneously retaining the expressive spontaneity and linear focus characteristic of draftsmanship. The combination of dense color application and visible paper texture gives the figure a sense of immediacy and material presence.

Created during the height of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements, this piece falls within the productive period of 1876 to 1900. It exemplifies Cassatt’s celebrated focus on the intimate lives and psychological depth of her female subjects, captured primarily indoors or in contemplative settings. Though she spent the majority of her career residing in France alongside her European peers, Cassatt remained fundamentally an American artist, providing a distinctive cultural viewpoint within the French movement. The compositional structure utilizes strong contrasts, notably between the dark mass of the headwear and the subtly modeled face of the sitter, drawing attention directly to the figure’s expression.

Cassatt used the density of the pastel to create textural variation, capturing the perceived weight of the titular accessory versus the delicate treatment of the skin and background setting. The sophisticated handling of light and shadow reinforces the introspective mood often present in her portraits. This powerful drawing serves as a key example of Cassatt’s draftsmanship and her evolution as an artist. The work resides in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. Recognizing the piece’s significance, high-quality prints and reproductions often enter the public domain, ensuring this quintessential American masterwork remains widely accessible for study and appreciation.