Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper [Hardcover]

Harriet S Chessman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2001

2001 First Edition by Harriet Scott Chessman. This is a hardcover book with dust jacket. 164 Pages

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Permanent & Seven Stories Presses; First Edition edition (2001)
• ASIN: B0011YMV2Y
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,876,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PITCH PERFECT PROSE CELEBRATES FAMILY, LOVE, AND ART, January 28, 2002

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (Hardcover)

Art and life. Life and art. The lines pf demarcation aren't' visible in this richly imagined story of the relationship between Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt (1847 - 1926) and her older sister, Lydia, who sometimes served as Cassatt's model. Using five of the artist's paintings as springboards the author offers a moving story of courage and creativity, while she renders a fascinating study of the times in which the women lived.

Although suffering painfully, from a terminal illness, Bright's disease, Lydia continues to model for her sister, relentlessly scanning each finished portrait as if it foretold her future. Chessman conceives of Lydia as a study in patience and resignation, imagining that painter Edgar Degas, who often visited the sittings, said to Lydia, "You show me how to live, if only I could do it as you do."

In addition to exploring a unique sibling bond "Lydia Cassatt Reading The Morning Paper" suggests aspects of Cassatt's daring life, hints at a liaison with the dynamic Edgar Degas, and presents thumbnail sketches of her interaction with such artists as Renoir and Caillebotte.

Lydia, we learn, died in 1882 while Cassatt lived to create for over thirty more years.

Rather than a sad reflection on a too short life, Chessman, with pitch-perfect prose, has penned a celebration of family, love, and art.

- Gail Cooke

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical and Contemplative, February 26, 2002

By 

Laure-Madeleine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (Hardcover)

Lydia Cassatt (1837-82) was the older sister of the avant-garde American-born Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). This lovely novella, 'Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper' by Harriet Scott Chessman, is set in Paris and its environs in the late 1870s to early 1880s and recreates a fictional portrayal of their life en famille and with close friends like Edgar Dégas, the French Impressionist. Because it was the time of the Impressionist exhibitions in Paris, there are mentions of other artists such as Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Berthe Morisot. Lydia often posed for Mary, which she found to be 'a form of enchantment.' Afflicted with Bright's disease, a fatal disease of the kidneys, Lydia endured much pain and weakness to sit still while her sister painted her. Through the use of internal monologue in a stream-of-consciousness Impressionistic style, Ms. Chessman allows the reader to experience the passing thoughts, memories, and reflections of Lydia. Lydia had remained an unmarried woman because her fiancé had been killed in the Civil War. Mary (called May) was also unmarried, through choice, because she did not wish to compromise her artistic career with marriage and motherhood.

Included in the pages of this novella are five beautiful color plates of paintings of Lydia by Mary Cassatt. Each of the five short chapters contains almost a meditation on each painting. Through the imaginative writing of Ms. Chessman, I learned more about the details of Cassatt's paintings, such as the possible meaning of a scarlet sash in 'Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly' (1880); that there was a pair of Mary's burgundy leather gloves resting on the loom in 'Lydia Seated at a Tapestry Frame' (1880/81); and that the little girl in 'Woman and Child Driving' (1879) was Edgar Dégas's niece. Mary painted the cover portrait of Lydia, 'Woman Reading,' in 1878/79, and the novella gave me a glimpse of what Lydia might have been thinking and feeling while she posed for it. Lydia's preference was to read poetry by Tennyson rather than the Le Journal newspaper that she is holding in this portrait. Mary Cassatt's portraits of Lydia look unposed, so I was somewhat surprised to read about the sessions where the silently suffering Lydia had posed for hours.

This novella has inspired me to view Mary Cassatt's work with a fresh eye. Now looking at the vivacious décolletage portrait of 'Lydia in a Loge, Wearing a Pearl Necklace' (1879), which is not discussed in this book, I might imagine her enjoying a rare night out at the opera, possibly in a happier mood. Lydia was model and muse for Mary, and 'Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper' shows a contemplative reflection of the artist's gaze.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical Tale of Sisterly Love, September 10, 2002

By 

E. Rothstein "erothstein" (STUDIO CITY, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (Hardcover)

I was a huge fan of Tracy Chevalier's "Girl with a Pearl Earring", so I was most interested to read Harriet Chessman's novel about Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia - the inspiration for many of her impressionist paintings. Chessman's style is elegant, and spare, and she limns a portrait as lovingly as Cassatt painted Lydia. If I have any criticism, it's that I wished the novel had a broader scope - it covers a very brief period when Cassatt and her family lived in Paris. I wanted to know more about the family before they came to Europe, and how at that time in history a woman was able to rise to such prominence in the epicenter of the birth of modern art. Chessman is an accomplished writer, and yet the book is not as deeply felt as it could be, perhaps because of its brevity. Still, it is a tale well worth the telling, and a pleasure to read.