peale anc cassat

609 Words2 Pages

Charles Peale's Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson and Mary Cassat's Madam Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse are two very comparable pieces, but with quite a few differences. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson is a double portrait of Peale's eldest daughter Angelica and her husband Alexander Robinson. Peale, along with his wife, and one of his many daughters traveled from Philadelphia to the couples home in Baltimore to complete the painting. The couple was expecting their first child, so Angelica asked her father to paint the portrait because she feared she might not make it through childbirth ("Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson). And as you may have guessed by the title of this piece, Madam Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse is a double portrait of the mother and daughter of the Gaillard family. Cassat became close friends with the Gaillard family through her friend, the patron, Edgar Degas. Dr. Theodore Gaillard ("Madame Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse).
These works are very similar in their heavy use of contrast. Such as the way that in Madam Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérès the mother and daughter are very physically different. The mother is fair skinned with light auburn hair, and the child is olive skinned with dark hair ("Madame Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse). Even though Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson is a very unified painting, the clothing and the background creates obvious variance between the married couple. Angelica is wearing a feminine white dress with a very decorative pattern and rhythm in the folds. As opposed to Angelica's attire, Alexander is wearing a masculine and rigid black jacket with a white collar. The background in correspondence with Angelica's clothing is light, with...

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...)("Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson).
In conclusion, the pieces have a variety of similarities as well as differences. Both pieces are double portraits that show the difference in time periods in which they were created and the way artistic tastes change over time. Both works of art seem to express differences between light and dark. Though both pieces have similar subject matters they vary in the use of medium and technique to create stark contrast with each other.

Works Cited

"Madame Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse | Reynolda House Museum of American Art." Madame Gaillard and Her Daughter Marie-Thérèse | Reynolda House Museum of American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.

"Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson | Reynolda House Museum of American Art." Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Robinson | Reynolda House Museum of American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.

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