Swann Galleries - 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings - Sale 2422, September 22, 2016

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72 ● MARY CASSATT
Child in a Bonnet.
Color pastels on buff laid paper. 302x215 mm; 117/8x81/2 inches. Ex-collection Mathilde
Valet, Paris 1931, with the ink stamp (Lugt 2665a, verso).
MathildeValet was Cassatt’s beloved housekeeper and close companion. A longtime maid
of the artist’s family, she was hired around 1882 and by the time Cassatt’s vision had largely
deteriorated, in the early 1920s, was in complete charge of the artist’s household and
personal affairs. Valet and her family, Alsatian Germans, were well educated and spoke
several languages, and the mutual respect between Valet and Cassatt allowed them to run
the household smoothly and effectively.The year after Cassatt’s death, an anonymous sale
was held at Hôtel Drouot in Paris featuring many of Cassatt’s artworks bequeathed toValet.
[15,000/20,000]