Lilla Cabot Perry

Lilla Cabot Perry (born Lydia Cabot; January 13, 1848 – February 28, 1933) was an American artist who worked in the American Impressionist style, rendering portraits and landscapes in the free form manner of her mentor, Claude Monet. Perry was an early advocate of the French Impressionist style and contributed to its reception in the United States. Perry's early work was shaped by her exposure to the Boston School of artists and her travels in Europe and Japan. She was also greatly influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophies and her friendship with Camille Pissarro. Although it was not until the age of thirty-six that Perry received formal training, her work with artists of the Impressionist, Realist, Symbolist, and German Social Realist movements greatly affected the style of her oeuvre.

Early life Lydia (Lilla) Cabot was born January 13, 1848, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father was Dr. Samuel Cabot III, a distinguished surgeon. Her mother was Hannah Lowell Jackson Cabot. Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot (b. 1852), and Godfrey Lowell Cabot (b. 1861), founder of Cabot Corporation. Her family was prominent in Boston society, and friends of the family included Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and James Russell Lowell, Perry recalled having the opportunity to play the game "fox and geese" with both Emerson and Alcott.

Perry studied literature, language, poetry, and music and had informal sketching sessions with her friends. As a child she additionally enjoyed reading books and playing sports outdoors. Perry's The Beginner, c. 1885–86, represents the first work she completed under formal guidance. The Beginner echoes Collins’ influences with the sitter's serious gaze, dark background, and emphasis on dramatic lighting. She earned sufficient money to travel first-class passage to Europe in June 1887. She studied at Académie Julian While in Paris, she became friends with Mary Cassatt, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monet.

Career

Giverny In 1889, Perry first encountered Claude Monet's work in Georges Petit's gallery. Inspired by his work, the Perrys spent the next summer in Giverny, where Monet lived, in order to further expose Lilla to the Impressionist's style.

A distinct shift can be observed in Perry's work after she arrived in Giverny. Her La Petite Angèle, II (1889), illustrates the dramatic evolution of her style during this period. Unlike her earlier portraits, such as The Letter, which relied on more traditional techniques to carefully render the subject matter, La Petite Angèle, II, is clearly impressionistic in style with its free form brushstrokes that capture the impression of light and color. Rather than blending together each brushstroke, Perry allowed the composition to be "raw," thus allowing a vibrancy to be imbued in the canvas that was not possible in her earlier works. Giverny and, more specifically, Claude Monet inspired Perry to work with en plein air forms, impressionistic brushstrokes, soft colors, and poppy red. In the window of La Petite Angèle, II, we see the beginnings of what would become Perry's love affair with the Impressionist's handling of the landscape theme.

Between 1894 and 1897, Perry's work achieved international acclaim. Not only was she able to exhibit her work in Boston, she also regularly exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the Salon de Champ de Mars during this time. Mount Fuji became the subject of 35 or more of her paintings, In 1916, she painted a portrait of Edwin Arlington Robinson, who wrote a biography of her husband for The Dictionary of American Biography. Robinson often visited the Perrys at their house in Hancock, New Hampshire.

The sun breaks forth and now my plum tree smiles, Charming its feathery burden into dew, That all its flowers may drink a health to Spring! For February in Japan beguiles Even my homesick heart from thoughts of you, New England, still icebound and blustering. After a period of mourning, Perry again allowed her work to be exhibited at the Guild of Boston Artists – the organization she helped to establish – in 1929 and then again in 1931. Many of her landscapes were showcased in the exhibition, including Autumn Leaves (1926), Lakeside Reflections (1929–1931), and Snow, Ice, Mist (1929).

Her vocal advocacy for the Impressionist movement helped to make it possible for other American Impressionists, such as Mary Cassatt, to gain the exposure and acceptance they needed in the states. She furthered the American careers of her close friends Claude Monet and John Breck by lecturing stateside on their talents and showcasing their works. She also worked closely with Camille Pissarro to assist him in his dire financial situation by selling his work to friends and family in America.

Selected exhibitions 1893 – World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois 1982 – Lilla Cabot Perry, Paintings. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts 2018 – Women in Paris 1850-1900, traveling exhibition

Selected works

Paintings

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Study of a Statue of Buddha, Japan

circa 1900 Private collection