Mint Museum to display portrait painting by an iconic American Impressionist

Starting in July, Mint Museum Uptown will display American Impressionist Mary Cassatt’s Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3). It’s a rare appearance for Cassatt at the museum.

One of the best-known American female artists, Cassatt was the only American to exhibit alongside French Impressionists in Paris. Currently, The Mint does not own another painting by Cassatt.

While this is not the first time the artist’s works appear in the museum, this will be one of the few times visitors can find them in the Charlotte museum, according to the museum’s senior curator of American art, Jonathan Stuhlman.

The painting will debut at the Mint in mid-July. It will be on exhibition for over a year, until September of 2022.

Painted in 1900, Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No.3) is an example of Cassatt’s mature work. It features an artistic composition – in a mutual embrace of mother and child, the painting shows the full back of the mother, which allows the viewer to focus on the child gazing out, Stuhlman said. “It raises questions about seeing and being.

“We work really hard to try to build our collection and to bring in works on loan that show the true diversity and range of artists from America who were making important work,” he added.

Visitors will see the Cassatt painting along with the works of other American Impressionists after they walk out of sections showcasing American landscapes and artists who look at the country as an inspiration for their creation.

The Impressionist section, Stuhlman said, allows visitors to see how artists bring back new styles from abroad and put American art in an international dialogue.

The Cassatt painting was purchased by the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation last month from The Brooklyn Museum and offered to The Mint Museum as a long-term loan.

In the fall of 2022, the museum will exhibit over 100 pieces from the Jacobsen Foundation’s collection of American art. After that, the Cassatt painting will become part of the exhibition and travel to four other venues.

The Mint Museum has fully reopened to the public since last September.

An earlier version of this story had the incorrect date for when Mary Cassatt created the painting. It was in 1900.

This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 5:23 PM.