Feeding the Ducks

Ducks swim eagerly toward a rowboat where a little girl, flanked protectively by two women, is engrossed in tossing crumbs to the aquatic wildlife in Mary Cassatt's print Feeding the Ducks. The woman at the bow of the boat is dressed in a blouse of bright yellow, a color balanced compositionally by the yellow duck, and a white-dotted, sky-blue skirt; she forms the apex of the triangle of figures and a striking focal point of the image. Her extended right hand parallels that of the child as they both feed the ducks. The other woman, shown from behind, slightly bends over the toddler in a subtle gesture of maternal solicitude for the child's safety. The greenish cast of the water is echoed in the pale color of the girl's clothing and the delicate tints of the patterned, ruffled dress of the woman on the right; the white bow around the child's head glints like a reflective spark.

The pond at the French country house Cassatt purchased in 1894, Château de Beaufresne, in Mesnil-Théribus in the countryside fifty miles northwest of Paris, inspired several interpretations of the subject of feeding ducks, including the painting Summertime (TF 1988.25). In contrast to that work's close-up perspective and vigorous brushwork, the more delicately tinted Feeding the Ducks focuses on the relationships between the adults and the small child in their attentive care, reiterating the artist's favorite theme of maternal love expressed through act and gesture. Apart from the dark gray curves of the boat, Cassatt colored this particular impression of the fourth and final state of the print with lighter hues to evoke the brightness of midday sunlight; the background appears completely bathed with light. In other impressions of this state she used darker tones in pastel hues. This impression thus serves as a distinctive example of the artist's exploration of the qualities of bright, flickering light and color.  

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988. 

Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts and the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., June 18–August 27, 1989; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, September 9–November 5, 1989; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, November 25, 1989–January 21, 1990. [exh. cat.]

Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1-October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]

Regard sur Mary Cassatt (Mary Cassatt at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 2–October 31, 1996.

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Portrait of a Lady : peintures et photographies américaines en France, 1870–1915 (Portrait of a Lady: American Paintings and Photographs in France, 1870–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France and  Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (organizers). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, April 1–July 14, 2008;  Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, September 25, 2008–January 5, 2009 (exhibited in Bordeaux). [exh. cat.]Terra Collection-in-Residence, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 29, 2022–December 31, 2026.

   

Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme. The Graphic Work of Mary Cassatt: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. No. 158, p. 66; ill. p. 152 (black & white).

American Impressionism. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1985. Ill. fig. 6 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-63, p. 172 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Mathews, Nancy Mowll and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. Text p. 174; cat. 18-IV, p. 177 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 76, p. 256 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 254; pl. 76, p. 256 (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Riley, Gillian. Impressionist Picnics. London, England: New England Editions Limited, 1993, p. 46. [specific reference to Terra print]

Barter, Judith A. Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. No. 78; ill. p. 300 (impression in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, acc. no. 1992.159).

Mancoff, Debra N. Mary Cassatt: Reflections of Women's Lives. London, England: Frances Lincoln, 1998. Text p. 73; ill. p. 73 (color), ill. back cover (color). [specific reference to Terra print]

Adelson, Warren et al. Mary Cassatt: Prints and Drawings from the Artist's Studio. (exh. cat., Adelson Galleries, Inc.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. Text pp. 102–103; ill. pp. 102-103.

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 128; ill. p. 128 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 128; ill. p. 128 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Mary Cassatt: Impressions. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005; Paris: Le Passage Paris–New York Éditions, 2005. Text p. 57 (checklist); ill. p. 77 (color).

Vanessa Lecomte, editor. Portrait of a Lady : peinture et photographies américains (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2008. Text (checklist) p. 93.